We have all heard many times during our times here at Tufts that our school is on the rise - we're attracting better students and faculty, are becoming more selective, more prestigious and more well-known. These are exciting times for everyone involved with the university, and we need a leader who is able to provide a strong voice for the student body. It is because of this that I am supporting Amanda Richardson for TCU President in today's election.
I strongly feel that Richardson has the experience and the vision necessary to work with students, faculty and administration and to make sure that Tufts remains committed to undergraduate education, even as it is improving and growing. Richardson is the only candidate in this race who has not been in Senate since freshman year, and this gives her a strong outside perspective on what the Senate does well and what it can improve upon.
This perspective can only be obtained by being a student leader at Tufts before being involved in the Senate. It was her experience as a student leader that led her to run for Senate last year because she saw that there was a need to bring the spirit of service back to the Senate, and she has done that this past year.
When deciding to support Richardson, I had to look no farther than her commitment to making the Senate responsive to student needs this past year to know that she is the only choice to lead Tufts during these dynamic times. This past year, as head of the Senate Education Committee, Richardson created a mechanism for student input on professor tenure and promotion, helping to ensure that professors remain committed to teaching and students are always at the front of Tufts' mind.
Richardson also responded to the student body's request for a later drop date and fought for the addition of the Latin American studies major and Portuguese language curriculum. Getting to know Richardson this semester has shown me that she is not on the Senate to simply add to her r?©sum?© or have a title. She is on the Senate, and is running for President, because she truly cares about Tufts and wants to do her part to make sure it is living up to its potential.
Richardson has set out an ambitious, yet realistic, agenda for the Senate and for the entire Tufts community for the coming year. She realizes that Tufts has amazing resources available for students, and wants to make sure we are putting those resources to the best possible use. For example, she will work to improve career services and the advising system in order to better address students' needs. She will also encourage the use of technology to create a more student-friendly points system and to provide students with easy access to important information that is now scattered and impossible to track down.
She also wants to create a more open, mature relationship between students, administration and TUPD. Creating a better relationship between students and the various departments of the administration will lead to a healthier social life and a greater Tufts spirit.
I know that Richardson will be a great president for the entire student body and is the right person to lead Tufts. Seeing her interact with other students and administrators on a personal level, I see the connections she makes and the relationships she builds and know that she will be able to bring together the entire Tufts community and create a Senate where students feel like their needs are being met and their voices are being heard.
Today is an important day for Tufts, a day where we can decide if we are going to elect the candidate with the vision to make the Senate more responsive and to ensure that Tufts keeps its focus on the students. Let's make the right choice and vote for Amanda Richardson as our next TCU President!
