CMHS Diversity Statement and Mission

We believe in dignity, respect, and affirmation for all.

CMHS is committed to helping prevent and address behavioral and mental health challenges that may become impediments to students’ academic and personal goals.  Our diverse clinical team delivers high-quality mental health services to facilitate personal growth and wellbeing and to promote resiliency, self-acceptance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

We value the uniqueness of each individual, recognize the centrality of culture and relationships in human development, and respect and embrace human diversity in all its forms, including racial, ethnic and national backgrounds, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental and physical ability, language, age, spiritual belief, and socioeconomic status.  We are committed to an inclusive environment in which we provide affirming care to our diverse student body.

In addition to providing direct services to students, we devote significant resources to outreach in the Tufts community, providing students with the information and access they need to prevent or mitigate crises. We extend these resources to every department on campus, and we provide extensive training and consultation throughout the Tufts community, assisting everyone who has contact with students in recognizing and responding effectively to those in distress.

Safety and Respect

We provide a space in which everyone in the Tufts community can feel safe, valued, and respected. Our staff seeks to promote and affirm diversity in its broadest sense.

Identity Affirmation

We recognize that mental health practices have a history of prejudice and discrimination based on sex, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, race, sexual/affectional orientation, age, physical and mental abilities, size, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic class. Such discrimination affected the way mental health issues were defined and the way people received care. Hence, we are driven by a responsibility to work toward the recognition and elimination of prejudicial attitudes and practices.

Staff Training

We are staffed by professionally trained counselors who have expertise and experience in working with college students and who take a holistic approach to each student, valuing each person's unique identity. As the goals of increasing awareness and working to eliminate biases are ongoing processes, we engage in regular and ongoing staff trainings and discussions of bias and inclusion as they pertain to our work. In this way, we strive to maintain an atmosphere of openness and trust in which it is safe to explore and discuss all of one’s experiences and concerns.