As a freshman, Eric Greenberg barely knew who the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate president was, and for the most part, he barely even cared. He read the papers once in a while, and like many others, was fed up with hearing about the Senate's internal bickering. All he really wanted to do was hit the gym, shoot some baskets, and go to his classes.
Two years later, the Senate's vice president is probably its most visible campus figure, emerging from obscurity to lead the public fight against the social scene crackdown last fall, and working behind-the-scenes with administrators and student groups to improve social life opportunities on campus and off.
Now, as he prepares to square off with Senate Treasurer Michele Shelton for the TCU presidency, even Greenberg is a little surprised by his out-of-nowhere rise.
"My freshman year, I really didn't do anything," he said. "I kept my ear to things... but after a while I starting realizing that there were a lot of articles about Senate complaining or arguing or just pushing things that were totally ridiculous. It just seemed like there were a lot of people trying to make a name for themselves without really getting anything accomplished."
So the political science major from Baltimore, MD took it upon himself to change things. "I just made it a test for myself: I'm going to run for the Senate, and I'm going to try to actually get things done. It took me a year, I had to work within some restraints and get into a leadership position, but I think I've started to get things done," he said.
Greenberg, who is also a South Hall resident assistant and an event staff manager for the Office of Student Activities, won a seat on the Senate in an uncontested election in the fall of 1999. He readily admits that most of his sophomore year was spent learning the ropes, but is proud of what he's managed to do this year, in particular the new social policy he helped negotiate with the administration.
"With the social life forum, the bus to Boston, the social life rally and task force, the police details, I guess I'm the social life guy," he said.
Greenberg believes that his year off the Senate has actually served as an advantage, since it has kept him from becoming too much of a politician - a surprising statement to anyone who has seen the talkative, outgoing Greenberg in action, aggressively campaigning for a cause. Still, Greenberg claims to shun publicity, maintaining that he prefers to work behind the scenes as an organizer.
"I'm more interested in the organizational dynamics, getting people to work, making sure the Senate is operating efficiently, that everyone is on board on things," he said.
Indeed, this year much of his energy was devoted to acting as an "enforcer" of sorts for Senate President David Moon, ensuring that the Senate ran smoothly and without internal turmoil.
"One of the things I pride myself on is that... during the year, there were no senators who resigned, and I can't remember the last time that happened," he said.
But Greenberg knows it's his plans to improve the social scene that will likely make or break his bid for office. The vice president is campaigning largely on his successes from this year, and the promise of more social life breakthroughs.
"On social life, I still think there's room for improvement. In terms of more programming for people to have more fun on campus. What we did this semester was a start. As a whole, I want the University to stick to their in loco parentis policy, and treat us as adults," he said.
While Greenberg's agenda for next year is largely focused on further improving campus social life, he also places a high priority on diversity education and expanding cultural opportunities - but without forcing students to take on a new diversity requirement.
"I think there needs to be more focus on race and diversity, sexuality, and gender, without adding an entirely new requirement," said Greenberg, who is of Chinese, Filipino, Caucasian, and Latino backgrounds. "I think there are ways - and other schools have done it - to infuse certain aspects of that into the curriculum without adding a new requirement, because I understand that there are certain politics to adding a new requirement on all fronts."
Greenberg, who says he regularly attends the weekly meetings of many on-campus culture groups and is a voting member of two, is also pushing for a controversial amendment which would allow culture representatives to become full voting members of the Senate, set to be voted on at the April 25 election. A similar amendment was defeated five years ago, but Greenberg thinks it has a better chance now in what he calls a more open, activist Tufts environment.
"In larger society, not just Tufts, there's a lack of minority representation. Traditionally - and this year is an anomaly - minorities have been highly underrepresented serving on Senate. That can lead to their issues not being represented on senate. Currently, many of the minorities who are on Senate don't work on minority issues. And when those issues are worked on, most of the time the Senate doesn't listen, doesn't care."
Right now, Greenberg is preparing for what should be an easy re-election effort as a junior class senator on April 11. As for the presidential election, that's still three weeks away, and Greenberg seems as relaxed as if it were three months from now.
"I'm still forming a team," he said. "The first thing is to find a base, to find support. One of the things I'm lucky to be is an RA. I'm going to a lot of culture group meetings, and I'm seeing a lot of support there. It's going to be a hard campaign, but it's going on a foundation that's already been set."
