In a week rife with student government fumbling, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate lost one of its most prominent members. Failed presidential candidate and former treasurer Michele Shelton resigned from the Senate on Thursday, citing a "priority change."
In an e-mail sent Thursday afternoon to members of the Senate's executive board, Shelton told the Senate leaders that she was resigning her post - effective immediately.
Shelton, who was responsible for balancing the student activities budget last year and work to improve classroom technology during her term as treasurer, said she will refocus her energies on her paid position as the programming assistant for the Office of Student Activities (OSA). She said her time-consuming work at the OSA handicapped her ability to serve as an effective senator.
"I've been thinking about it for a while," Shelton said. "Being a senior, I have a lot of other things going on. I realized that Senate wasn't high on my priority list."
Shelton said she spoke with friends before making her decision, which she said was an emotional process. "I had trouble hitting the send button for the e-mail," she said. "I had to get a friend to talk me through it."
But Shelton said that despite her reservations, she could no longer responsibly fulfill her duties. "I didn't think it would be fair to the Senate or student body to have someone on Senate who was not fully committed to it," she said.
Politics, however, were what Shelton disliked most about the Senate. Her failed presidential run last year played a large role in her decision to resign. "If I had won the election, the Senate would have been my highest priority, and maybe I wouldn't have taken the OSA job," Shelton said. "Since [the presidency] didn't happen it gave me the leeway to decide for myself what I wanted to do this year."
A member of the TCU Senate since her freshman year, Shelton said that she enjoyed working with the treasury and interacting with other student leaders. Of her accomplishments, Shelton says she is most proud of her successful effort to allocate funds to student groups without risking a deficit. "Balancing the budget felt really good," Shelton said. "That was a big deal for us last year and I'm very proud of that."
Though she says she will continue her involvement with the Culture Coordinating Committee (CCC) and the Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs (CECA) committee, Shelton says her focus will now turn toward her future, including plans to attend graduate school. "I want to go into higher education," Shelton said. "It's a priority for me right now."
Though student government leaders say Shelton's presence will be missed, they do not believe that her resignation will hurt Senate morale. "It was good to have her voice to help," TCU Senate President Eric Greenberg said. "We will miss her."
Senate Vice President Melissa Carson said she understands Shelton's decision. "Her presence will be missed, but people understand that was what was best for her," Carson said. "It's just a sad thing that a strong senator is gone."
Shelton says she is content with her decision. "It was a good three years, I'm glad I did it," she said. "I'm very happy I ran for president and I'm happy that I'm leaving now."
Under the TCU Senate constitution, the Elections Board has 15 days, as of Friday, to hold an election to fill the vacancy. But the Elections Board's future is uncertain; three of its four-member board resigned over the weekend. If no senior runs for Shelton's seat, it will be open to juniors, then underclassmen.
In TCU politics, it is common for failed presidential candidates to resign after the election. Last year, Anoop Swaminath resigned after he failed to secure a nomination for the presidency. Vivek Rampogal resigned and ran for a trustee representative position when he lost his presidential bid two years ago.
Veronica Aguilar contributed to this article.
