VOTE “YES” by Proxy! The deadline is Friday, June 3, 2022, at 5PM EST.

What is going on? 

We discovered in 2021 that due to a change in Massachusetts Law, our 102- year-old Articles of Organization do not allow the Alumni Council, the Tufts University Alumni Association’s (TUAA) governing body, to amend the TUAA’s bylaws without a vote of all 110,000 alumni. 

For more information, including the Notice and Explanatory Statement and the Related Articles, please visit the website.

Voting “Yes” on the amended Articles:

  • Allows the Alumni Council to change its by-laws to meet evolving alumni needs;
  • Protects the ability of all alumni to continue to elect Alumni Trustees; and
  • Modernizes corporate governance to enact ‘best practices’ for non-profit organizations.

Voting “No” on the amended Articles:

  • Makes it expensive and time-consuming to make by-law changes
  • Prevents the Alumni Council from evolving;
  • Provides no guaranteed protection of our alumni’s privilege to elect Alumni Trustees; and
  • Renders the Alumni Council and our 100+ year-old organization ineffective and inefficient.

The Alumni Council and its Executive Committee have approved these amendments by a large majority and RECOMMEND YOU VOTE YES!

We need YOUR Vote, YOUR voice. This is YOUR right as a Tufts alum to have a say in the TUAA.

Read on, then go to the end of this post to VOTE YES.

WHAT IS PROPOSED?

The proposed amended Articles of Organization will not only modernize the TUAA and bring it into compliance with Massachusetts law; they will allow the TUAA to function effectively and efficiently, so we can continue serving YOU – our alumni. It also enshrines the right of all alumni to elect alumni trustees and provides various other rights that are more expansive than the rights that member of an organization like the TUAA have under Massachusetts non-profit corporation law. 

WILL THERE BE CHANGES TO ANY ELECTION PROCESS?  

Approving the amended Articles of Organization will not change the right of all alumni to elect Council members or Alumni Trustees. It will permit the Council to amend the bylaws in the future to change the election process.

WHO DRAFTED THE AMENDED ARTICLES?

Jennifer Covell, President of the TUAA, Vikki Garth, President-Elect of the TUAA, and Chris Valente, Jen Faucon, and Susan Miller, Co-Chairs of the Alumni Council Strategic Planning Committee, who led this effort with assistance from lawyers independently hired by the Council. There was no participation from the Tufts Administration.

WHY DOES YOUR VOTE MATTER?

This proposal brings TUAA up to date with Massachusetts non-profit corporate law changes dating from the 1970s. The TUAA has not complied with these changes for 50 years. The amended Articles of Organization would fix this. If forced to revert to its 1971 bylaws, the TUAA will cease to function effectively and efficiently.

Our Alumni Association is unique. It has been a supportive but independent partner to the University for more than one hundred years. We have privileges that alumni of many universities do not. Without a dynamic, independent, flexible Alumni Association, alumni have no power to make their voices heard or have any influence on University policy.

If you care about Tufts, vote YES – to ensure all alumni have the dynamic, independent, and flexible organization we all deserve!

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW?

1) Join fellow Tufts Alumni on the Somerville/Medford Campus in person at 9:30 a.m. on June 5, 2022, at the Bleachers at Ellis Oval/Zimmerman Field (rain or shine) to cast your in-person vote.

OR

2)  Appoint a proxy today to VOTE YES on your behalf at the June 5, 2022, Alumni meeting. The deadline is 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 3, 2022. Click here to vote now

OR

3) Call +1-617-627-3532 or send a request to alumni@tufts.edu to receive a hard copy of the Notice and Explanatory Statement, the Restated Articles, and an Appointment of Proxy. Votes must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on June 3, 2022.

*We encourage all Tufts Alumni to vote by proxy regardless of whether they intend to attend the June 5, 2022, in-person meeting. For more information, please visit the website.

Do You Have Questions? E-mail Us at alumni@tufts.edu.

The Alumni who prepared this message are active leaders of the Alumni Council, including the Current President, President-Elect, as well as the future President-Elect, most Executive Committee members, committee chairpersons, and many Alumni Trustees.

Jennifer Covell, J86, President of the TUAA; Member, Tufts Alumni Council Executive Committee (TACE)

Vikki Garth, J81, President-Elect of the TUAA; Member, TACE

Susan Dickason, A04, FY23 President-Elect of the TUAA; Member, TACE

Chris Valente, A05, Member, TACE; Co-Chair, Strategic Planning Committee (SPC)

Jen Faucon, J90, Co-Chair, SPC; Co-Chair, Alumni Resources Committee

Sue Miller, J70, AG73, E96P, A98P, Co-Chair, SPC

Amy Lampert, AG87, FY23 Member TACE; Member, SPC

Elizabeth Amador, A91, A22P, Member, TACE

Kristen Davenport, A12, Member, TACE; Chair, Development Committee

Mark Ferri, A84, F86, Member, TACE; Member, SPC

JJ Kwashnak, A88, Treasurer, TACE

Sophia Michelen, A09, Member, TACE; SPC

Tim Nelson, E04, EG07, Member, TACE

Ivy Vo, A09, Member, TACE; founder and former co-Chair International Committee

Steve Wermiel, A72, A10P, Immediate Past President of the TUAA

Jennifer Bokoff, A08, former Member TACE, former Co-Chair SPC

Alyssa Gelbard, J92, Co-Chair, Career Services Committee; Member, SPC

Kate Kaplan, AG95, A20P, A22P, Alumni Trustee; Past President of the TUAA; Member, SPC

Nathalie Faustin Lubin, A05, Co-Chair, Nominating Committee; Member, SPC

David Meyers, A96,  Past President of the TUAA; Member, SPC

Richard Yanofsky, A76, Former Member, TACE; Member, SPC

Yulia Korovikov, A13, FY23 Member TACE; Member, SPC