Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to visit Tufts University

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (Sept. 26, 2018)—The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University will host national political figure and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D-Va., on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. in ASEAN Auditorium at the Cabot Center on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus. McAuliffe will discuss the upcoming midterm elections, public service and the state of American democracy.

The event is part of the Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series, which recently featured former Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the Boston Globe Spotlight Team and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Tisch College Dean Alan D. Solomont, a former United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, will moderate the discussion with former Gov. McAuliffe.

This event is free and open to the Tufts community, though an RSVP is encouraged here.

The event is open to members of the news media, but they must register in advance by contacting Robin Smyton via email at robin.smyton@tufts.edu or by phone at 617-627-5392.

The event will be livestreamed at tischcollege.tufts.edu and photographs will be made available upon request following the event.

From 2014 to 2018, McAuliffe served as the 72nd governor of Virginia. During this time, he significantly improved economic development in the Commonwealth, including   conducting a record number of international trade missions and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for Virginians. He oversaw a nearly 2 percentage point drop in state unemployment rates, and a 12.3 percent rise in personal income.

As governor, McAuliffe also functionally ended veteran homelessness and fought to restore voting rights to 173,000 previously disenfranchised felons. He used his veto power to protect the environment, public education and women's access to healthcare, and to block discriminatory legislation that would have targeted state employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Additionally, McAuliffe successfully passed comprehensive bipartisan legislation to decrease statewide gun violence.

McAuliffe entered national politics at the age of 23 as the national finance director for President Jimmy Carter. After a career in the business sector, he was elected Democratic National Committee chairman in 2000, serving until 2005.

He co-chaired President Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign for reelection and his 1997 Presidential Inauguration. He was also chairman of the 2000 Democratic National Convention, and chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science at Tufts School of Arts and Sciences, and JumboVote, a university-wide initiative which seeks to boost political learning, civic engagement, and voting registration and turnout.

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life focuses on preparing students to tackle the most pressing challenges to democratic and civic life, and on conducting research in the emerging field of civic studies.

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About Tufts University

Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged.