Spotlight: Tufts Tisch Scholars

The greater Boston area is learning fast that Tufts University’s Tisch Scholars are for real. For the past six years or so, the program has given select students the opportunity to organize and run their own community outreach projects.

On the surface, it may seem as if these projects are merely to build one’s résumé. Becoming a Tisch Scholar is a rigorous selection process and does impress on job applications, but the Scholars themselves don’t see this as their goal.

“Yes, the skills are practical and I am making a lot of great connections with fellow Scholars and community organizations,” said junior Scholar Ramzi Babouder-Matta. “However, what is most important is that the community improves in some way from the work that I am doing.”

Babouder-Matta is an International Relations major and does not know where his experience as a Tisch Scholar will take him after graduation, but he values the people he has helped and the programs he has spurred. Last year he worked to improve the Asian Community Development Corporation’s Chinatown Community Walking Tours. His project this year is with Outside the Lines, an organization located just west of Tufts’ Science and Technology Center that manages art programs for people with disabilities.

“Outside the Lines gives them an outlet through which they can contribute to society,” Babouder-Matta explained. “It’s sad, but a lot of them have been told that they have nothing valuable to offer the world.”

Beyond merely assisting in arts classes every week, Babouder-Matta is trying to set up galleries and shows for the artwork created at Outside the Lines. He believes that by bringing attention to this kind of art, people who appreciate it may want to purchase some pieces. His first target is the Tufts’ Aidekman Arts Center.

Like Babouder-Matta and many other Scholars, junior Sarah Tralins also switched projects after her sophomore year. She was a research assistant at Tufts Medical Center in the Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, but is now working with the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers in Cambridge as an art therapy leader for women who have experienced domestic violence and sexual assault.

“I think that the students who are attracted to the program have a desire to really be a catalyst for change,” Tralins continued. “In other words, those who want to work within the communities and develop their leadership skills while simultaneously learning about social justice and expanding their knowledge overall.”

The program aims to provide enough of a framework for students to begin their projects in case there are bumps in the road, but makes sure to step back when appropriate. Part of that security blanket is a $500 budget for each Scholar, for each semester.

“Tisch College is the very fortunate beneficiary of an endowment gift by Jonathan M. Tisch, and the income earned off of the endowment, as well as alumni gifts, are sources of funding for the Tisch Scholars Program,” said Scholars Program Coordinator Sara Allred.

Only 20 students can be accepted per year, but there is never a shortage of applications. Scholars that are accepted must enroll in a mandatory class called “Education for Active Citizenship,” which teaches the Scholars the basics of working in the community. After that, it is really up to the Scholar.