When a member of the U.S. Senate resigns, there are set procedures in place for a new senator to be appointed and special elections are held so that the transition is as smooth as possible. But when a senator resigns from a small student government, the sudden need to replace an absent member can be a bit more jarring.
This year's Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate has been through six resignations and an embezzlement scandal - but while this might be a heavy burden for any student organization to bear, the Senate said it is still operating smoothly.
"We haven't skipped a beat and we're moving along," said junior Neil DiBiase, the TCU president. "It's been a challenging year; we had our advisor leave ... but thank God that we had competent leaders and administrators who care so much about student life."
Last summer, Senator Daniel Katzman, a senior, stepped down for personal reasons. Within the first month of last semester, sophomore Callie Kolbe and junior Constantin Sabet D'Acre also resigned for personal reasons. A month later, it was revealed that the Office of Student Activities Director Jodie Nealley, who advised the Senate, had allegedly embezzled $300,000 from the treasury.
The hits kept coming this semester: Senior Treasurer Evan Dreifuss, junior Education Chair Amanda Richardson, as well as junior and Ethnicity and Community Affairs Committee Co-Chair Emerson Luke recently resigned, again citing personal reasons. And as DiBiase pointed out, resignations at Tufts are by no means limited to the TCU.
"We often forget that Senate is a club," he said. "People just don't report it when a member of the LCS resigns."
DiBiase remains unfazed by the recent resignations, as Tufts has one of the largest representative student governments in the country in proportion to the size of the student body.
"Many schools are double or triple our size and their student governments are smaller than ours," he said.
According to DiBiase, many schools elect only executive officers such as a president and a treasurer, and then fill other needed positions through internal elections similar to practices in other clubs. What sets Tufts apart, he said, is that 28 of 35 senators are elected by the student body.
DiBiase explained that the high number of participants is part of the cause of the high turnover rate.
"Like anything, when you have a higher number of people, you're going to have more movement [of people]," he said.
According to DiBiase, the Senate's average length of service has become shorter in recent years, which may have contributed to the unusually high number of resignations this year. "When I was a senator, everyone was on for three or four years," DiBiase said. "Now ... I'm the only senator [who has been in office] for three consecutive years."
DiBiase also attributed the current slew of resignations to the relative youth of the Senate body - though Richardson, Dreifuss and Katzman were all seniors when they resigned. He believes that younger senators are still trying out positions on the Senate in addition to other activities and underestimating their time commitments.
"Senate attracts people who are involved," DiBiase said. "They're busy and committed to a lot of things around campus."
When a senator does resign, the TCU Constitution stipulates that an election to fill the vacancy must occur within 15 days. Internally, the Senate moves quickly to fill open positions. In the case of an absent committee chair or executive member, a new one is quickly voted in through in-house elections.
Because of his previous experience within the senate, junior Matt Shapanka was encouraged to run to become the education chair when Richardson resigned. By filling vacant positions quickly, the Senate is able to avoid losing time and having any individual committees, or the Senate itself, become ineffective.
But Senate resignations are not zero-impact events, according to junior and TCU Elections Committee (ECOM), Public Relations Officer Anjali Nirmalan. She said three resignations in one year was an uncommonly high number based on her experiences with ECOM.
ECOM is the branch of Tufts student government charged by the TCU Constitution with running elections. Its members are selected through an application process administered by the TCU Judiciary. Each member serves a one-year term and receives a stipend for his or her work - and according to Nirmalan, the work isn't easy. "We've pulled a lot of all-nighters," she said.
ECOM is responsible for running freshman elections at the beginning of the fall semester, as well as running the general elections for the entire Senate late in the spring semester. They are also responsible for holding special elections to fill seats vacated by resignation, removal for misconduct or any other reason.
Resignations do create more work for ECOM members because a special election requires the same procedures as a regular election.
Running a student election consists of holding a general interest meeting, clearing candidates with petition forms, holding a candidates meeting, ensuring that students abide by guidelines in their campaigns, holding a candidates forum and finally, overseeing the actual election.
In addition to creating more work for ECOM, Senate resignations are also disappointing to other Senate members.
"When someone resigns who's been very influential or dedicated, it's hard; it's a real loss to the body," Shapanka said. "But we are a young body. It leaves room for others to step up."
Ultimately, the decision to resign from any commitment is a personal one.
"At the end of the day, we're all students," DiBiase said. "People are here to be students first and [involved in] extracurricular activities second."
