 "Photo: Alison Mehlsak/ tufts daily")
After a week and a half of campaigning including debates, concerts, face-to- face introductions and interviews with various campus organizations, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) presidential race has narrowed to a battle between two equally qualified and thoughtful individuals: junior Brandon Rattiner and sophomore Chas Morrison. Having served on Senate for two years apiece, both possess the leadership skills, knowledge base and general vision to excel as president. All things considered, these two individuals have put together memorable campaigns focused, foremost, on uniting the Tufts community.
Having followed both candidates, listened to their debates and spoken to each individually, we believe Rattiner will ultimately better serve the university during the 2009-10 school year due to his more polished, well-rounded and realistic vision for the school, in addition to his approachable style of leadership.
Although both Rattiner and Morrison have similar political résumés — Rattiner having served as co-chair of the Senate’s Education Committee and Morrison as chair of the Senate’s Administration and Policy Committee — Rattiner’s extra year at Tufts shows through in his policy objectives. Both have emphasized the need for more campus involvement, especially among upperclassmen, yet Rattiner’s vision for fostering campus unity is more realistic — likely the result of the perspective awarded by his extra year on the Hill.
While Morrison argues that the university should offer upperclassmen more reason to come back to campus for activities — most specifically, he believes Hotung Café should host a Senior Pub Night — Rattiner has clearer ideas on how to diversify between on- and off-campus programming.
Rattiner’s vision seems born from a greater understanding of the relationship between upperclassmen living off campus and their school community. Rather than bringing students to the school, Rattiner believes the school should bring itself to the students, a policy that will not only be better received by a group of students intent on developing a certain level of independence from the school but will also increase the physical boundaries of the university to the bordering neighborhoods.
During their two years on the Senate, both candidates have similar voting histories, although on one of the most contentious of issues — the Senate’s allocation of $230,000 of recovered funds toward building a Trips Cabin alongside the Loj in New Hampshire — the two fell on different sides of the argument. While we commend Morrison for his judgment and disagree with Rattiner’s decision to support the initiative, we do not think this is a make-or-break issue in his bid for the presidency. We respect the opinion of those who disagree, and we certainly expect that Morrison’s caution with the recovered funds will win him plenty of votes in today’s election. But Rattiner’s defense of his vote reveals a deep understanding of the forces at play in the Tufts community. We believe Rattiner will carry this deep level of thoughtfulness with him to the presidency.
We support Rattiner with the firm belief that he will more aptly connect with students across all four years through a vision that is experience-driven and realistic. Morrison is disciplined and ambitious; his approach keeps a keen eye on long-term growth and improvement. While Morrison would no doubt be an effective leader, we still lean toward Rattiner; on a personal level, his leadership style is laid-back and approachable while at the same time remaining policy-focused and articulate. While both candidates possess the necessary knowledge and experience expected of a president, we believe Rattiner to be the one best equipped to unite the Tufts community.
42 comments