Tufts Community Mobilizes for 2025 Day of Service

With a collective spirit to roll up their sleeves to serve their communities, nearly 300 students, staff, faculty, alumni, friends, and community members fanned out across the Tufts' host cities of Medford and Somerville to pick up trash, spend time with seniors, and more during the third annual Day of Service on Friday, September 26, 2025.

Sponsored by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, the Office of Government and Community Relations, and the Leonard Carmichael Society, volunteers began the day at Breed Memorial Hall for check-in as well as free food, drinks, and swag. Those offering welcoming remarks included: Tufts University President Sunil Kumar; Dayna Cunningham, Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Dean, Tisch College of Civic Life; Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn; and Rocco DiRico, associate vice president of government and community relations. Participants then split off into groups to their assigned service sights across Medford and Somerville.

"Today's service is a one-day event-an opportunity to be a great neighbor-and the projects have been designed to be responsive to our host communities," said Cunningham in her welcoming remarks. "It is also an important entry point to more civic engagement, more interactions with our amazing host communities, and we hope, more opportunities to be together."

"This year's Day of Service brought together more than 200 students, faculty, and staff which enabled us to volunteer at a dozen sites in Medford and Somerville," said DiRico. "Thank you to the cities, schools, and community partners that offered these rewarding experiences. Events like this strengthen the bonds between the university and the community."

Student participants included members of the Leonard Carmichael Society as well as many Tufts Athleticsteams, sororities and fraternities, the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning(UEP)-in addition to a record number of staff.

The university's Day of Service is an annual tradition established during President Kumar's inauguration in 2023.

Words of Encouragement

President Sunil Kumar delivered welcoming remarks at the Day of Service kickoff event in Breed Memorial Hall. Afterward, Tufts volunteers spread out to work at service sights across Medford and Somerville. Photo: Alonso Nichols

Getting to Work in Davis Square

Five volunteers-each wearing Tufts Day of Service t-shirts provided at the kickoff event-cleaned up trash in Somerville's Davis Square. Photo: Alonso Nichols

Cleanup in Medford Hillside

Working in the Medford Hillside neighborhood, three Tufts undergraduate students picked up and disposed of litter outside of local restaurant Pini's Pizzeria. Photo: Andy Kwok

Clearing the Way

With smiles on their faces and leaf blowers, brooms, and rakes in hand, volunteers helped with landscaping work around Medford's Missituk Elementary School. Photo: Andy Kwok

Photo Opp With Jumbo

City of Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn posed for a photo with Jumbo in Breed Memorial Hall. Photo: Alonso Nichols