Tufts Community Union (TCU) veteran junior John Valentine has been reelected to the TCU Senate, filling the seat that junior Shaun Glassman left when he resigned two months ago.
Valentine served on the Senate his freshman and sophomore years. He decided not to run this year because he wanted to spend the spring semester of his junior year in Barcelona to continue his studies in Spanish.
"The reason I didn't run for Senate for the first half of the year and then resign was that I didn't think it was right to up and leave at the half-year mark. I didn't want to let my class senators down," Valentine said.
When Valentine decided not to study abroad, he was glad that there was an open seat on the Senate. "In October I decided that I wouldn't go abroad. At this point I felt pretty bad that I wasn't on Senate. The opening of the seat made me real excited to get back on," said Valentine, who decided to run when Glassman left.
According to Elections Board member junior Abby Lillianfeld, Valentine won his Senate seat in an uncontested election when he was the only one to attend a mandatory candidates meeting last Wednesday.
Last year, Valentine served as the head of the Services Committee. During his time on that committee he worked with current Senate member junior Ed Kalafarski to renovate the University's main Web site.
Valentine will now sit on the Committee for Administration and Budget. He hopes to work to reduce printing costs in the library and at Eaton computer lab.
"I feel honored to be back with the Senate," Valentine said. "The experiences I have gained in the past couple years with Senate have given me fantastic expertise on many campus topics that I most certainly will use for the remainder of the year."
Fellow Senators are glad to welcome Valentine back. "We're all thrilled to have John Valentine back with us on Senate," TCU Senate Vice President junior Rafi Goldberg said. "His contributions during previous years show that he is truly one of the great advocates for the Tufts community. I am honored to once again be serving with him."
"Even when faced with challenges and setbacks, he has this contagious energy
that keeps everyone optimistic" junior and TCU Senator Athena Bogis said.
Senate Public Relations Chair senior Alexei Wagner pointed to the potential for positive change. "Glassman's resignation can be looked at as a wonderful opportunity to bring a new person with fresh ideas to the body," Wagner said
Valentine's optimism comes in stark contrast to the outlook of the senator he replaced. "Some people really have a passion for it. I'll respect that, but it's not for me," Glassman said in November about his resignation from the Senate. "I didn't feel like I was changing the school," Glassman said.
Valentine, however, said that he feels he gets a lot done on the Senate.
"I am excited to be back and I'm sure I'll have a productive half year. I can't wait to get started on my projects," he said.
