Margo Buckels Miyashiro ’85 writes:

Would you like to teach a group of friendly, respectful, motivated students, with fascinating life stories, who bring you delicious food from all the world’s cultures? Then teaching adult English as a Second Language (ESL) might be the gig for you! For the past 10 years, it has been my joy to teach English to adult immigrants, helping them build their lives in the United States.

Our Sacramento adult school offers classes in ESL, Citizenship, and High School/GED, and I teach Intermediate High ESL. My students are so diverse, currently ranging in age from 18-75.  The main immigrant populations at our school come from China, Vietnam, Mexico, Central America, and Afghanistan. What they have in common are courageous stories of making huge life changes to try to create a better future for themselves and their families in the United States. Some students came to America for job opportunities. Some have lived here many years and only now have the time to study English more formally.  Many came because of turmoil in their home countries. Unfortunately, such upheaval seems to be a constant in our world. I have Vietnamese students who fled their country in the 1970s and Afghan students who managed to get on the last transport planes out when their government fell in 2021.

In my classes, we practice all the English skills:  reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar.  We also tackle using technology. Again there is so much diversity – from young students who can do everything digital to other students who are using computers for the first time. So many forgotten Google passwords! American cultural activities are a big part of our class too – to welcome students into American life. Superbowl trivia, winter holiday parties, birthdays, and March Madness brackets. 

My students are working so hard to share their ideas and lives in the English language. But they are also fully accomplished adults with amazing life experiences. Starting over can be so daunting. I want our class to be a place where people feel seen and know that they matter. I feel like, for me, it is such an honor to be one mentor helping them along on their journeys. 

Danger Close: Domestic Extremist #1 Comes Clean is “a narrative seamlessly blending entrepreneurial prowess with covert government operations.”

Great news from classmate Joyce Sackey! 

“I have two pieces of good news to share. The first good news is my appointment as the inaugural, Dr. Jane Murphy Gaughan Professor! I am thrilled beyond belief! Please see [below] for further details.

The second is my appointment as Associate Provost and Chief Diversity Officer for the Tufts Health Sciences Schools (Dental, Nutrition, Veterinary and, of course, the medical school). Here is a link to a recent article that provides an overview of the role.
https://now.tufts.edu/articles/focusing-diversity-and-inclusion”

Congratulations Joyce!

Dear Tufts School of Medicine community,
 
I am pleased to share the University’s appointment of Joyce Sackey, M.D., as the inaugural Dr. Jane Murphy Gaughan Professor.
 
Joyce arrived at Tufts in 2009 as the school’s first Dean for Multicultural Affairs and Global Health. As a member of my senior leadership team, Joyce assists me in developing and implementing plans for recruiting, retaining and supporting a diverse cohort of students, faculty and staff. Since her arrival at Tufts she has instituted several initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and inclusiveness. For example, Joyce established the Multicultural Fellows Council to foster community among Tufts Health Sciences students. Under her leadership, the school regularly offers symposia and seminars on topics related to diversity, bias, and health care equity. Joyce has collaborated closely with the admissions office on outreach and recruitment efforts aimed at diversifying the student body, particularly our MD program.  She has provided leadership for our pipeline programs and introduced new ones, including the Tufts / UMass Boston Enrichment Program. She also established and chairs the Faculty Advisory Council on Excellence, Diversity and Inclusion (FACE Diversity and Inclusion). This committee brings together leaders across the medical school and is charged with implementing policies and practices designed to recruit and retain diverse faculty, including those from groups traditionally under-represented in medicine and the biomedical sciences.
 
Through initiatives such as Innovations in Diversity Education Awards (an intramural faculty grant), Joyce has supported faculty members pursuing scholarly and innovative work in the areas of workforce diversity, health care disparity, and promoting cultural competency. She has also represented the medical school as a member of Tufts’ Bridging Differences Initiative as well as on the President’s Council on Diversity. She chaired the Council’s subcommittee, the Group on Graduate and Professional Student Experience Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council. More recently, President Monaco appointed Joyce as the University’s Associate Provost and Chief Diversity Officer for the Health Sciences Schools. Beyond Tufts, Joyce is a member of the AAMC Group on Diversity and Inclusion, the Northeast Group on Educational Affairs, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a Trustee for Foundation for African Relief.
 
The Dr. Jane Murphy Gaughan Professorship was established earlier this year through a gift from Gerard Gaughan, M.D., M71, in memory of his wife, Dr. Jane Murphy Gaughan. The Gaughans have long championed efforts to support diversity and underrepresented-in-medicine students at our school particularly through the Tufts / UMass Boston Enrichment Program, an immersive, winter break experience for URM undergraduates interested in learning about careers in medicine or biomedical science. The Gaughan Professorship is meant for a physician leader who is responsible for leading diversity initiatives and programs. In addition to the Gaughan Professorship, Dr. Gaughan’s gift also establishes the Gerard L. Gaughan, M.D., M71, and Jane M. Gaughan, Ed.D., Student Success Fund, which funds diversity initiatives and programs at the medical school.
 
I am delighted that the University has honored Joyce’s accomplishments with this appointment to the Gaughan Professorship, and I look forward to supporting her continued innovations for helping all our students and faculty to succeed. You are all invited to an installation ceremony honoring Joyce and Dr. Gaughan; the date and details will be announced in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Joyce.
 
Sincerely,
Harris A. Berman, M.D., F.A.C.P.

Classmate Dan Fagin has just been announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his book, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation. Here is the citation:

For a distinguished and appropriately documented book of nonfiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to “Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation,” by Dan Fagin (Bantam Books), a book that deftly combines investigative reporting and historical research to probe a New Jersey seashore town’s cluster of childhood cancers linked to water and air pollution.

Toms River is “the riveting true story of sixty years in the life of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution, Toms River melds hard-hitting investigative reporting, a fascinating scientific detective story, deep historical research, and an unforgettable cast of characters into a sweeping narrative that leaves us asking: Could it happen in my town, too?”

Dan is an associate professor of journalism and the director of the Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. For fifteen years, he was the environmental writer at Newsday, where he was twice a principal member of reporting teams that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. His articles on cancer epidemiology were recognized with the Science Journalism Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Science in Society Award of the National Association of Science Writers.