Conservative culture rep also issue at Amherst

Tufts is not the only University that has recently examined the possibility of adding a conservative representative to its student senate. Members of the Amherst College Republicans failed in their bid for a "politically conservative" diversity seat on the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) last month.

The chairman of the Amherst College Republicans, Theodore Hertzberg, applied for a diversity seat to represent the "politically-conservative" student community, AAS Vice President Bob Razavi said.

The events at Amherst parallel recent events at Tufts, as representatives of The Primary Source recently rallied for a conservative culture representative to the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, which would have been filled by a Source member. But Amendment 3, the Constitutional referendum that would have instituted a conservative rep, was voted down in a Nov. 8 referendum.

The AAS Constitution says that all campus voices shall be heard, Hertzberg said, and specifically says that communities that have been "historically silenced" should be represented through diversity senators. "[Representation of] communities that have been silenced is one way" to attempt to make all voices are heard, but historical silencing is only one criterion that should be used in determining who gets representation, Hertzberg said.

In late October, the AAS voted to recognize diversity senators for Latino students, international students, lesbian/bisexual/gay/transgender (LBGT) students, and Asian/Asian American students, Razavi said. The conservative student community was the only group whose bid for representation was denied.

The African American student group is still in the process of petitioning for its seat and holding elections, said Latino student diversity senator Alan Vazqyez, who represents La Causa.

Tufts' Association of Latin American Students, the Asian Community at Tufts, the Pan-African Alliance, and Tufts Transgender, Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Collective currently hold culture rep seats on the TCU Senate.

"The conservative voice has been silenced for at least 30 years," Hertzberg said. "Are we really trying to reconcile the wrongs of 1830?" Students should be concerned with "the relative campus history," he said.

The wording of "historically silenced" is inappropriate, Hertzberg said. "Surely the white supremacist vote has been historically silenced on the Amherst campus as well, but I surely doubt that the AAS will be giving white supremacists a diversity seat."

Others disagreed with the Amherst College Republicans' argument that they had been historically silenced. "Conservatives have never been silenced... I think their whole stance was ridiculous," said Diversity Senator Daisuke O, who represents the International Students Association (ISO).

Hertzberg said the group's effort was a ploy aimed at making a political point rather than actually gaining AAS representation. "The purpose was to show the greater community that on US campuses today, the liberal notion of diversity excludes diversity of thought but gives more weight to factors that are truly skin-deep," he said.

"In an academic situation, in a community of thinkers, what should matter most, if not solely, is how one thinks," Hertzberg said. "The problem with awarding such seats on the basis of race or sexual orientation is that it assumes that people of [the same race or orientation] believe, think, and promote the same things." Hertzberg said that assumption is inherently racist and sexist.

The unsuccessful proposition for a politically-conservative diversity senator accomplished the group's goal to draw attention to the larger issue, Hertzberg said. The effort was not about gaining the seat, but about pointing out the flaws of the diversity seat system, he said.

The backers of the conservative representation bids at both campuses had, in the past, entirely opposed culture representatives and diversity senators, respectively, causing many students at both universities to question why the groups sought representation. Both groups expressed their desire to occupy a seat with the primary goal of reforming the system.

"It was an effort to reform the culture rep system that many people have a problem with," Source Editor-in-Chief Megan Liotta said.

Hertzberg clearly stated his opposition to diversity seats. "The only thing that I want to do on the Senate is to get rid of these damned seats," he told The Amherst Student. "Yes, diversity seats are anti-democratic, but not allowing the seats to be filled is constitutionally irresponsible," he said.

O said the Amherst College Republicans should not have been granted a diversity seat and that their effort was not sincere. "They were making a complete joke out of the Senate by trying to gain a diversity seat in their attempt to get it banned completely," he said.

Although diversity seats have existed in Amherst's student government since 1994, Razavi said, debate on whether to have such seats and who should serve in them was revisited when the governing body wrote a new Constitution last spring. The document, which outlines the purpose, powers, and election and removal procedures for diversity senators, was ratified in April.

Hertzberg urged students to vote against the new Constitution on the basis of the diversity seat issue. After the Constitution passed, Hertzberg decided to apply for a seat himself. He and others are now circulating petitions to create a campus-wide referendum that would eliminate diversity senators altogether, he said.

"All this has convinced us that diversity seats aren't worth the trouble," Hertzberg said. "I'm confident that the seats will be no more."

The TCU Senate will host an open Constitutional Convention Friday to discuss possible revisions to the current Constitution. The role and voting powers of culture reps are expected to be a main issue addressed, although the forum aims to discuss all elements of the Constitution.

Although the Tufts student body had the opportunity to vote for or against a conservative culture representative to the TCU Senate, the issue at Amherst was decided within the AAS, Razavi said. All Amherst students voted on the new Constitution, but only senators voted on the addition of a politically conservative representative.

Hertzberg, who successfully ran to be the politically-conservative representative at an open Amherst College Republicans meeting, applied for a diversity seat and was granted the seat after a 3-2 vote by the AAS Executive Branch, Razavi said. But ambiguity in the Constitution led a senator to approach the Judiciary Council claiming that senators must vote on the Executive Branch's recommendation. The Senate then voted against the seat.

AAS diversity senators operate under the same rights as all other senators except that they are not allowed to vote on money matters and cannot serve on standing or student-faculty committees, Razavi said. They are elected by the respective organizations they represent, rather than by the general student body, similar to election procedures for culture representatives to the TCU Senate.

Diversity senators on the AAS are only a symbolic presence, O said. The senators have little power in the student government organization, he said, calling the AAS "little more than a glorified high school student council."

Senators at both Tufts and Amherst said the majority of students at both campuses did not give extensive consideration to the possibility of a conservative seat. Prior to Amendment 3 voting at Tufts, Senate Treasurer Benjamin Lee told the Daily that he questioned whether the outcome of the election "would be the real will of the student body since there [wasn't]... much discussion on it."

Amherst's O said the issue was void of much debate on campus. "Nobody cares about this debate in the general population of Amherst," he said. "The average student probably doesn't even know about diversity seats or care about them."