Reviewing Tufts' progress

This year has been a dichotomous one; it has been a year of the same age-old issues that have preoccupied the student body for years, but it has also been a year marked by things that no one ever thought plausible or possible.

Tufts' administration and various members of the student body have realized that Tufts has great proficiency at teaching about a variety of peoples all around the globe. These same members have also realized that Tufts falls short when it comes to teaching about those same peoples here at home.

A core of dedicated faculty and inspirational students have spearheaded efforts to transform our curriculum into one totally commensurate with the 21st century. The Latino Curriculum Transformation Project has spent this year bringing speakers from across the country to address how Tufts can integrate Latino studies into our existing academic system. The Asian American Curriculum Transformation has worked with the American Studies and English Departments to create a professorship in Asian American literature.

Unfortunately, the plan for the professorship fell through, but this core group of individuals committed to change has by no means been daunted. They will work tirelessly with the administration to make positions like this a reality. And now, to the credit of these curricular transformation efforts, attention is being paid to the need for LGBT Studies, Native American Studies, and an African American Studies major.

In the fall of 2001, President Lawrence Bacow created the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience to evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of the Tufts undergraduate experience and to assess how we might enhance it for the 21st century. The Taskforce has been in operation for nearly eighteen months and will publish a final report on its efforts this June, which I encourage everyone to read, examine, and scrutinize.

The Task Force proposal that garnered the most attention from the campus was the proposal of dividing the campus into four colleges, one of which every undergraduate would be tied to for their entire career here. While some believed that this would create greater community among undergraduates, others believed that this might further divide the campus. After prompting by many concerned members of the student body, the Task Force made the proposal less rigid and more flexible to deal with the changing realities of Tufts.

Another proposal that also gained attention was an expansion of the writing requirement. Hopefully this proposal and others like it will spur a true re-examination of how we can truly create core requirements that inculcate core skills that are vital for the real world.

Another proposal of the Task Force that was already being worked on by various individuals, including the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate Trustee Representatives, is the construction of Phase III of the Mayer Campus Center. For those who are not aware, the campus center is an unfinished structure, and Phase III is the last addition.

This addition would be crafted to meet the needs that are most pressing to the students. Needs that have already been enumerated are the moving of mail services to the Campus Center, a revamped alumni center, and the creation of a midsized arena. It will take a coalition of students, staff and administration to make this happen and I am confident that this coalition will materialize.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, the status of the Greek system has become a burning issue on campus this year. But the current circumstances can and must be turned into impetus for positive action that will benefit the Greek system and the rest of the student body.

Approximately 11 percent of Tufts undergraduates are involved in the Greek System, and that figure does not even take into account the undergraduates who are beneficiaries of their activities. We, the students and administration, must work to keep the Greek system as healthy and vital as possible. The health of the student body depends on it.

Many have said the Greek system must do more philanthropy and community service. While that sentiment has merit, that same sentiment could be applied any organization. I do not believe the Greek system has been given enough recognition for the philanthropic activity it already does. I believe what is needed is for that philanthropic activity to get the public relations apparatus that it needs and deserves. This will break the misconception that the Greek system serves purely social purposes.

This year, the TCU Senate received a breath of fresh air and shot of new blood with our new Senators from the class of 2006. Their arrival has heralded an end to the insular student government of the past and the birth of a student government where student interest always wins over self-interest.

The Senate this past year realized that a government that is not in touch with and accountable to the people it represents cannot fulfill its mandate. This Senate passed bylaws that not only meted out outreach responsibilities to Senators but tied standards of accountability to them. I, and every other member of the TCU who believes in this outreach, will work tirelessly to get these bylaws re-passed and keep the Senate accountable to the people.

This Senate and this student body have encountered a number of firsts this year. We have created a new TCU Constitution, which I was privileged to be a part of, which has allowed any number of individuals to run for the TCU Presidency and has, for the time being, resolved the culture representative debate.

For the first time, the student body made a brave choice and elected a rising junior, myself, to the TCU Presidency. I will devote every effort to proving I am worthy of that brave choice and I will serve the students well.

The welfare of this institution is dependent not only on what Tufts already is, but on what Tufts can be and what we do to work towards that.



Chike Aguh is sophomore majoring in Political Science. He was elected TCU President for the 2003-2004 academic year.