On-campus elections were held Wednesday for positions in all branches of student government. Members of the Elections Board (ELBO) revealed election results to candidates early yesterday morning.
There were originally two Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate seats available for the class of 2005, but only one senior, Matthew Pohl, chose to run for a seat. He won his seat in an unopposed race.
The remaining 2005 seat then dropped to the junior class, but still no one chose to run. The seat then dropped to the sophomore class.
Four members of the class of 2007 ran for the two Senate seats. Kelley Ferro and Denise Lyn-Shue were elected to those seats.
The other sophomore seat became available this summer after Senator Simon Sassenberg transferred to the University of Pennsylvania.
There were seven Senate seats available for the freshman class this fall. The seven new senators from the class of 2008 were elected from a field of 17 freshmen who campaigned. Those elected were Bruni Hirsch, Daniel Katzman, Alexis Marion, Jon Adler, Evan Dreifuss, Diler Erdengiz, and Harsha Dronamraju.
There were also two open seats on the Committee on Student Life (CSL) this fall. The CSL is a government body composed of both students and faculty members. Five students ran for these spots; freshman Michael Eddy and senior Juliana Zapata won them.
Elections were also held for the TCU Judiciary (TCUJ). Elections for the TCUJ were held in the spring but the results were thrown out as a result of junior Jordana Starr's appeal to the CSL.
Starr had been disqualified from the elections by ELBO for violating campaign regulations regarding sending emails to class lists.
In the new TCUJ election, the seven seats were awarded as a result of an uncontested election. The new members of the TCUJ are senior Shaharris Beh, Starr, sophomores Shiva Bhashyam and Jake Resnicow, freshmen Marc Bouffard, Alexander Clark, and Jamie Morgan.
Allison Preiss, public relations director of ELBO, said that this election had seen voter participation rise. She said that of about 4,900 possible voters, 1,173 chose to vote this year.
Individual figures for each candidate were not made public. Each election, ELBO decides whether or not candidates' specific results can be released.
"That's about 24 percent," Preiss said. "Previous TCU elections have shown a markedly more apathetic voting body."
According to Preiss, just under a 1,000 people voted last year. The year before that, only about 880 students voted.
The election was also fairly problem-free, Preiss said. "It was the smoothest election I've seen since I've been at Tufts," she said. "Usually we experience having lots of people e-mail us because they can't votes [due to technical problems.]" Only one person experienced trouble with the online voting setup this time, she said.
Senators also elected the three Senate trustee representatives this week. Trustee representatives serve as a liaison between the Board of Trustees and the TCU. The trustee representatives meet with the Board of Trustees several times over the course of the school year "in order to discuss macro goals and concerns for the University," according to a Senate press release issued yesterday.
Eight students applied for the trustee representative position at Sunday's Senate meeting. "After giving each candidate a fair review, three candidates did emerge as being the most suited for the job," Senate Historian Andrew Caplan said.
The three new trustee representatives chosen are former TCU President Chike Aguh, Rachael Marx, and former Senate Vice President and former TCU presidential candidate Joe Mead. All three are members of the class of 2005.
Each trustee rep serves on one of three specific trustee committees. Marx will serve on the Academic Affairs Committee, Mead on the Administration & Finance Committee, and Aguh on the University Development Committee.
The trustee representatives also make presentations at the student-trustee luncheon in the spring semester.
"All three have served the Tufts community through many different ways in the past and I feel that their knowledge and technical experience will make them great trustee reps," Caplan said.
"I believe I can serve the student body there," Aguh said of his new position. "I hope to bring the student voice to the Board of Trustees and achieve the needs that we have for housing and more academic buildings."
"I feel really excited about this," new freshman Senator Jon Adler said. "I'm really glad to be a part of the Senate."
Senators have expressed excitement about working with their incoming colleagues. "They all seem eager and excited to get involved," TCU President Dave Baumwoll said. "They are really amped to get there - we have to harness all that energy."
The TCU Senate, including its new members, will be leaving on its annual fall retreat tomorrow.
- Daniel Lutz and Kat Schmidt contributed to this article<$>
