Higher Education Institution

Tufts University

Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education

In September 2025, Tufts University announced the launch of the Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education (CEVIHE), with political science professor Eitan Hersh as its inaugural director. Tufts’ description of the center indicates that its goal is to help “Tufts University and higher education more broadly embrace difficult topics and challenging conversations to break out of ideological bubbles.” In July 2026, the Tufts-AAUP chapter released a report on the new center, raising concerns about its lack of a traditional academic accountability structure and the fact that it has not disclosed its donors, who have reportedly invested some $5 million in the center.

Notable People

Eitan Hersh

Inaugural director of CEVIHE

According to his CV, Hersh has received research funding from multiple foundations that are staunchly pro-Israel and anti-BDS, including Jim Joseph Foundation (which hosts an initiative aimed at cultivating, in students, an “enduring connection to Israel”), One8 Foundation, and Klarman Family Foundation. In a May 2024 interview, Hersh made critical remarks about pro-Palestine protesters:

[A]t the center of a lot of the anti-Israel activism is really pro-war movements. That is, they endorsed October 7th. They're chanting Intifada. They want a revolution. They also want a revolution against America. They think we're all settler colonialists, and none of us belong in the United States except the Native Americans.

Jim Stergios

Member of the CEVIHE Community Advisory Board

Stergios is the Executive Director of the Pioneer Institute, a conservative think tank that is a member of the State Policy Network.

Carine Hajjar

Member of the CEVIHE Community Advisory Board

Hajjar is a fellow at the Steamboat Institute, a conservative think tank that is a member of the State Policy Network. Hajjar has written critically about pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, alleging that protestors “defend their viewpoints using moralistic language—like inclusion, justice, equity, and resistance—while vilifying those of others and shutting down debate.” In a July 2024 op-ed, Hajjar presented the pro-Palestine protests as a key motivation for civil discourse programming, explaining that “[s]ince Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, higher education can no longer hide from the deep rot in civil discourse on campus.” She continued by describing how “[o]pen venues of discourse help to break down the siloed speech that has been radicalizing students on campus, where one-sided teach-ins and encampments replaced tough conversations.”

Partnerships

College Presidents for Civic Preparedness

Tufts president Sunil Kumar is a member of this coalition. Refer to the "College Presidents for Civic Preparedness" entry for details about the organization's leadership and funders.

Constructive Dialogue Institute

Senior leaders of Tufts have been recent participants in a training program by Constructive Dialogue Institute. Refer to the "Constructive Dialogue Institute" entry for details about the organization's leadership and funders.

Interfaith America

According to this announcement, Tufts is part of Interfaith America’s 2026–27 Prejudice to Pluralism cohort. Refer to the "Interfaith America" entry for details about the organization's leadership and funders.

Campus Policy Context

In the early hours of March 4, 2024, the Tufts Community Union Senate passed three resolutions proposed by the Coalition for Palestinian Liberation. One called on Tufts to disclose its investments and divest from companies tied directly or indirectly to Israel; a second was primarily focused on getting the president, deans, and provost to acknowledge the Palestinian genocide; a third called for Tufts Dining to stop selling Sabra products.

Later that day, President Sunil Kumar and other senior administrators rejected the measures, writing, “we reject the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement,” and saying Tufts would continue its academic and exchange programs and its existing business relationships. They also argued that the resolutions “do not promote nuanced understanding through broader dialogue.” The administrators said the university instead wanted students to engage in more nuanced conversations and pointed to programs including Tufts Talks Openly and Dialogue and Action in the Age of Divides.

Pro-Palestinian students subsequently established a Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Tufts’ Academic Quad, demanding, among other things, divestment from Israel. On April 28, 2024, Kumar and other university leaders wrote: “While we have always felt that dialogue is the best approach to resolving differences, it would not be appropriate to discuss a meeting with the student organizers until they clear the academic quad.” On April 30, 2024, administrators announced a no-trespass order on protesters and warned them that they could face suspension or other sanctions. Protesters ultimately dismantled the encampment voluntarily on May 3, 2024.

In September 2025, Tufts adopted a university speech policy that it calls “institutional pluralism” and which Heterodox Academy categorizes as “institutional neutrality.” Such policies are favored by groups like ACTA, The Heritage Foundation, Heterodox Academy, and Manhattan Institute, but strongly opposed by the AAUP and many scholars. An October 2025 research paper by Curtis Brewer and Michelle D. Young found that institutional neutrality had been deployed to normalize institutional silence, marginalize dissent, and constrain forms of political expression. Similarly, a spring 2026 Inside Higher Ed investigation found that college administrators have increasingly used institutional neutrality policies to justify censoring students’ political speech.