The Elections Commission (ECOM) held a candidates forum last night in Eaton Hall as a lead up to Wednesday's special election to fill the seats vacated by the resignations of two Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators.
One of the vacated seats was held by sophomore Callie Kolbe. Sophomores Alexandra Roy, Stanley Abraham, D.C. Wolf and Emily Gianetta are all seeking to replace her.
TCU President Neil DiBiase said he is pleased that so many students are running for this seat.
"It gives the sophomore class more choices, and the more choices the better," he said.
Last night, the sophomore candidates spoke first and began by talking about why they decided to run and what they hope to accomplish.
"I've always been interested in politics and legislation," Wolf said.
Roy said she is running to form more ties with the student body. "I feel like I can really connect with people," she said. "I really like getting out there and talking to people."
Abraham talked about the need to bridge the gap between the Senate and the rest of the community.
"I think the most important thing that we have to do as senators is serve our constituents," he said. "In the past there has been a large gap between the Senate and the student body."
And for Gianetta, serving on the Senate would give her the opportunity to integrate her experience at Tufts with the one she had in Cleveland before transferring.
"There are different systems and ways of organizing things that I think are worth looking at," she said.
The candidates then answered a variety of other questions. Commenting on the social scene, Gianetta said that "it doesn't seem like there's a lot of places besides frats and sororities to go and socialize." As such, she advocated for an expansion of opportunities.
Roy also had some input on social issues, calling for more space for students to meet and chat. This can come in the form of more benches or grassy areas conducive to socializing, she said.
Asked to describe the biggest on-campus problem, Wolf mentioned the Office of Residential Life and Learning.
"[There] needs to be a large scale investigation conducted or some type of oversight committee formed," he said.
Another topic that came up was town-gown relations. "I think that one of the most important things is instead of focusing on the negative aspects of relationships, we could augment the positive aspects," Abraham said. "I'd try to encourage more positive outreach programs."
The other open seat is the one vacated by junior Constatin Sabet D'Acre. Juniors Mario Saade and Eyal Amit are vying for it.
TCU Historian Alex Pryor said she expects both races to be very competitive.
"People are out campaigning and people are excited," she said. "Competition is a good thing."
Both Kolbe and D'Acre resigned because the Senate was too much of a time commitment for them.
While Pyror and DiBiase were disappointed to see them go, they are enthusiastic about the new group of candidates.
"They are all ... very involved on campus and each will bring a different and new voice," Pryor said.
"Everyone is bringing something different to the table," DiBiase agreed. "The Senate isn't a homogeneous body so the fact that all six have different backgrounds is exciting."
While ECOM has set up a mobile polling station for the past few elections, online voting will be the only option on Wednesday.
"We're doing it only online because we've noticed people aren't generally using the polling station in the campus center," ECOM Treasurer Kevin Terhorst, a sophomore, said. "They are voting at home."
-Lilly Riber contributed reporting to this article.
