TCU presidential candidate junior Brody Hale withdrew from the TCU presidential election and resigned his position on the TCU senate in an e-mail to the Tufts Elections Board (ELBO) yesterday evening.
"There comes a time in everyone's life when they have to take stock of who they are and what their purpose on their earth is," Hale told the Daily. "After a lot of consideration and reflection in my own life, I decided to extricate myself from the Senate altogether."
Hale said that the decision was a sudden one. "I wasn't planning to do this. I fully intended to run and seek the office of president," he said. "But I just feel like I could better serve the student body in other capacities."
Hale, a political science and history double major, has served as a TCU Senator since his freshman year. He had also been elected to the body for his senior year in elections earlier this month.
"I fully intend to continue lobbying for the things I set out to do in my campaign platform," Hale said, but he will "not be involved in anything student government related... [other than] as a student on my own time."
Brody's campaign platform focused on curricular concerns, principally the creation of a four-year writing program, expansion of the World Civilizations requirement, and an emphasis on public speaking.
According to current TCU president and senior Jeff Katzin, Hale served on the Senate's education committee since arriving at Tufts.
Katzin said that Hale served as a parliamentarian as a sophomore and has completed a significant body of work with tenure evaluations.
"I've worked on Sentate with Brody since he was a freshman," TCU Senator and senior Rafi Goldberg said. "He's been a valuable voice on the senate. We're sorry to see him go, and I wish him the best."
The announcement came as a surprise to ELBO, according to freshman Adam Weldai, the organization's public relations officer.
"This is quite a surprise," Weldai said. "Brody's served Tufts quite admirably for some time now, and he had such a platform for his presidential candidacy."
Materials, including advertising, have already been submitted containing Hale's name and information, Weldai said.
The presidential debate at Pearson Hall at 9:00 p.m. will, evidently, be shorter, he said.
ELBO hopes to be able to work with ITS to remove Hale's name from the ballot, Weldai said.
A special election will also be required to fill Hale's senate seat, Weldai said, which will likely be held at the beginning of the coming September.
Hale expressed no regrets about his decision. "I've done what I need to do," he said. "I wish everyone the best of luck, and may the best person win."
