Zachary Cole joined the University Chaplaincy team in June of 2014 as Program and Outreach Specialist and became Program Manager in July of 2017 through September 2019. He was charged with coordinating and implementing high-level programming and outreach efforts to connect and integrate the University Chaplaincy with all segments of the university and external partners.

His undertakings include overseeing the Conversation, Action, Faith, and Education (CAFE) Pre-Orientation program, which involves implementing the programmatic vision and recruiting, hiring, supervising, and coaching paid student staff and volunteer peer leaders. He works closely with the Tufts Interfaith Student Council and supports important initiatives around dialogue, activism, and values. He also develops and manages departmental outreach, communications, and marketing strategies for the University Chaplaincy to ensure high visibility and engagement across the university and beyond.

Zachary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education from Boston College. His higher education experiences include roles in the Office of Student Life at Harvard Divinity School, Residence Life at Babson College, and the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at Boston College. He is also a Co-Chair of the Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community (SRHE KC) within NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA). In this role, he works to support and network professionals, students, faculty, and other stakeholders who are invested in enhancing conversations, research, and best practices for spirituality, secularism, and religion in higher education.

Prior to joining Tufts, Zachary spent a year as the Values in Action Fellow at the Humanist Community at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he organized monthly interfaith community service programs in partnership with local religious and philosophical communities. Since December 2015, he has served as a consultant and event planner for the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at Merrimack College to plan an annual interfaith meal-packing event.