Monroe France will become the inaugural vice provost of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice, as announced in an email to the Tufts community on Dec. 1. France will also receive an appointment as a professor of practice at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and will start both roles on April 3, 2023.
France currently serves as the senior associate vice president for global engagement and inclusive leadership at New York University. Additionally, France works as lead instructor for NYU Global Inclusive Leadership and Management Institute and is the founder of NYU Environmental and Racial Justice Network. He stresses the importance of co-creation in developing transformative possibilities for students and staff.
“Vice Provost France will provide vision, leadership, and oversight of university wide DEIJ efforts, ensuring we work in unison toward our collective goals and that members of our diverse, multifaceted communities feel supported,” Caroline Genco, provost and senior vice president ad interim, wrote in the email to students.
France’s past work has centered around building sustainable experiences. Within NYU’s health sciences schools, he has strived to ensure health equity. France also serves as lead DEI strategist for the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and works on the DEI Task Force at the Future Talent Council.
“With more than 25 years of global experience as an educator, strategist, consultant, trainer, and presenter spanning across higher education, non-profits, corporate sectors, arts and creative industries, and humanitarian and philanthropy initiatives, he understands how to create sustainable institutional change,” Genco wrote.
Through this newly created role, the university hopes to highlight its commitment to support diverse communities at Tufts. As vice provost, France will be responsible for executing, guiding and ensuring university accountability to DEIJ initiatives.
France will work to expand Tufts’ definition of diversity to include a broader scope of ethnic, religious, geographic, socio-economic backgrounds, gender identities and levels of ability. He will also focus on creating recruitment and retention for students, faculty and staff.
“Creating meaningful, institutional change is—and always will be—an ongoing, collective effort,” Genco wrote. “A major milestone will be when we begin to think, feel, and act with DEIJ as the center of our work, and when all faculty, staff, and students feel safe, valued, seen, and heard.”
