Sophomore Jake Maccoby, one of three candidates running for Tufts Community Union (TCU) president, has decided to drop out of the race, he told the Daily Sunday.
Maccoby is also an editorialist for the Daily.
"I'm confident at this point that the student body will have the opportunity to choose between two fantastic candidates," he said. "Through that whole short campaign season, we have had a lot of really great discussion about where this school needs to go and the way we can really make this communication work."
He did say, however, he was happy to bring a third viewpoint to the first debate. "When you have two candidates there you ... have to debate everything, when you bring a third in you can really focus on specific things that weren't being talked about before."
Sophomore Adam Weldai of the Elections Commission confirmed that Maccoby had officially withdrawn from the election.
Maccoby entered the race out of a desire to contribute to Tufts and increase communication between the TCU Senate and student groups, which he called "misdirected at times." But he was satisfied with his impact on the debates.
"I think that my aim in this was really to come in and to bring some issues to the forefront and to get all the candidates to talk about these issues, and I think I've accomplished that," he said.
Maccoby does intend to act as a TCU Senator next year, when he hopes to invite people to Senate meetings to help with feedback and build personal relationships, he said. Then, groups can help increase collaboration "so that they don't feel like the Senate is a frightening place and an experience they can't be part of."
"I think Jake should be commended for entering the race in the first place," said sophomore Neil DiBiase, another of the TCU presidential candidates and current Senate historian. "He brought a lot to the race [with his desire] to make a difference in the way student body interacts and [in] making Senate more open."
"Jake is a great example of someone who really wanted to be part of the process," DiBiase said. "It just shows that people on campus really do want to be involved."
Maccoby's decision to drop the race, DiBiase said, made no impact on his campaign strategy. "We're just going to run the same campaign we were going to run," he said.
Junior Amanda Richardson, the other candidate, was surprised by the news. "It's unfortunate that he decided to drop out," Richardson said. "He's a wonderful candidate for president, despite the fact he didn't have so much experience. I think he did bring some great ideas to the table."
Richardson said that she hopes that the three can work with Maccoby's ideas on Sentate next year, regardless of who occupies which positions.
