Intercultural and Social Identities Program moves under Dean of Student Affairs Office

This fall, the Intercultural and Social Identities Program (ISIP) will go from a stand-alone office to a full-scale initiative led by a new director of Student Affairs Pluralism Initiatives (SAPI) and incorporated into the Dean of Student Affairs Office (DOSA). Director of the Women’s Center Steph Gauchel will assume the new director position for the 2014-2015 academic year.

ISIP was launched in the summer of 2011 by the former Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger-Sweeney, according to an email announcement from Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon to staff members on Sept. 23.

“ISIP was initiated as a means to support cross-cultural programming within [the School of Arts and Sciences],” McMahon said in the announcement.

The director of ISIP was designed as a rotating position among the directors of the Group of Six -- the Africana Center, the Asian American Center, the International Center, the Latino Center, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center and the Women’s Center -- with Director of the Africana Center Katrina Moore selected to serve the first three-year term.

McMahon’s appointment as the dean of student affairs this past spring coincided with Berger-Sweeney’s departure from Tufts and the conclusion of Moore’s directorship of ISIP, according to McMahon’s announcement.  This presented the opportunity for ISIP to transition into DOSA and for McMahon to think about how their new "bias reporting and response structure" would serve her office and align with the core mission of ISIP.

“In its current formulation, the Director of Student Affairs Pluralism Initiatives will work closely with colleagues across the Medford/Somerville campus to address identity-based issues on Tufts campus and to engage all Tufts students -- broadly and intersectionally -- in identity and social justice leadership development,” McMahon said in the announcement.

Both McMahon and Gauchel affirmed that the new position will continue much of the work that was being done previously by ISIP.

“I believe my role as [director of SAPI] stays true to the main functions that ISIP served, that of engaging and supporting students through identity-based issues that impact individual students and the broader Tufts community,” Gauchel said.

She explained that part of her role as director of SAPI is to work with the Group of Six center directors and other faculty, students and staff to identify events that DOSA would be interested in sponsoring or co-sponsoring. DOSA will also continue to support and house the Social Justice Leadership Initiative, which provides opportunities for dialogue, social justice education and leadership training, according to Gauchel.

“We want that kind of co-curricular programming to be more centrally sponsored and developed through this office,” McMahon said. “We’re trying to re-position student affairs as a broader concept in student support and engagement.”

Gauchel added that one of her goals is to serve as a bridge for communications on campus.

“I hope I am able to engage with students to understand what their experiences and interests are related to identity development and issues of identity and from this then make connections with relevant [people] that can provide resources and response to issues," she said.

Gauchel said she also wants to connect with faculty and staff to understand what areas to address within student affairs.

“I am particularly interested in drawing attention to the important work that the Group of Six centers are already engaged in … and working to reduce any barriers students might feel in terms of utilizing these resources,” Gauchel added.

As it is a relatively new role, both McMahon and Gauchel expect it to evolve in the near future.

“It’s really constantly evolving to meet the needs of our students [and as McMahon’s] vision for student affairs gets defined,” Gauchel said. “My hope is really just to support her in this work and … figure out how best I can … communicate with her and other members of [DOSA] to make sure that everyone’s aware of issues that students are dealing with or educational opportunities that students want to have.”

Gauchel added that she hopes to balance her new role as director of SAPI with her current role as director of the Women’s Center.

“I am especially grateful to the professional and graduate and undergraduate student support staff … because they are really key parts of making sure that the Women’s Center is successful and thriving,” she said.

During her time at Tufts, Gauchel has also served as a member of the Undergraduate Working Group for the President’s Diversity Council and the President’s Sexual Misconduct Prevention Task Force, as well as as a Sexual Misconduct Title IX liaison and the interim director of the LGBT Center, according to McMahon's announcement.

Gauchel said that her academic and professional career has been dedicated to studying and addressing the sociopolitical role of gender and identity within the United States as it relates to identity development and issues of identity-based bias, inequity and violence. She is in her final stages of her EdD in higher education.