Leading While Black: A Legacy of Transformational Black Leadership at Tufts University

A study of eight influential Black university executive leaders at Tufts and their legacy of transforming governance, advancing equity, traversing boundaries, and enhancing excellence for generations of students, faculty, and staff.

Hosted by the Africana Center and the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, with the support of the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost

Two moderated conversations on the legacy and future of Black executive leadership at Tufts

Saturday, February 19, 2022
1:00 p.m.
— Online —

Harleston played the powerful role of an “outsider inside”, a leader within an institution who consistently voiced alternative viewpoints and sought out pathways for justice-based institutional transformation. Harleston left Tufts in 1981 to become the President of the City University of New York. The openings he created at Tufts remained, and a diverse legacy continued to unfold that affects the university to this today.

As associate dean, Pinn focused on expanding admission of Black students, other students of color, and women, and on creating initiatives and networks to mentor these students once they arrived at Tufts. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the School of Medicine. “Seeing all those young and now not so young physicians who came through Tufts in my days there really is touching.”

Beginning with the Africana Center and informed by her leadership and Tufts’ commitment to admit and serve diverse student communities, Knable was also instrumental in the establishment of the Asian American Center, the Women’s Center, the Latinx Center, and the LGBT Center. Knable believes the educational experience is enriched for everyone when institutional membership is accessible to diverse groups.

Glater devoted herself to faculty development and to increasing faculty diversity and inclusiveness. She also started an initiative for outstanding first-years designed to support and retain students from underrepresented groups in science, math, and engineering. “I urged that everyone not keep telling me how…to prepare…or fix the students. Tell me what we’re going to do about the people the students have to interact with.”

Norris was the first Black tenured professor in the history of the School of Dental Medicine at Tufts; he became the first Black dean in the school’s history in 1995. From his starting point as a scholarship kid from the segregated South to serving as dean for 15 years, Norris made a career in leadership characterized by crossing boundaries, taking down barriers, and conducting new kinds of conversations in the boardroom.

“The reality is that without Bernie [Harleston], there is no me, literally. Because without Bernie setting the stage, there’s no moment for the entry of people like me… people like Marilyn Glater, Pearl Robinson, and Gerald Gill.” This legacy of Black leaders who challenged the boundaries at Tufts and of Black staff and faculty who insisted on interdisciplinarity continue to ensure the expansion of Black joy and opportunity at our university today.

As the first, and only, Black woman to serve as Dean, Berger-Sweeney invested in building a Race and Ethnic Studies program, implemented cluster hires to diversity faculty ranks, and focused on creating a pipeline for first-generation students to the university. Her journeys have always followed the guiding star of “helping people to understand, even just a little bit better, their power and potential…This is the work of the educator.”

Harris broke the boundaries of stereotypes to become the first Black provost in the university’s history. His major accomplishments include T10, Tufts’ first comprehensive university-wide strategic plan, establishment of the University Senate, and the creation of the Tufts Century Ride, a bicycling event to build bridges and camaraderie. As an institutional builder, Harris recognized ways in which he was a mentor and model for people he may not even have known.