Seven freshmen were yesterday elected to the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Sophomore Senate.
Freshmen Faith Blake, Logan Cotton, Meredith Goldberg, Yulia Korovikov, Wyatt Cadley, Tabias Wilson and Shawyoun Shaidani beat out four other contenders to claim the seven Senate seats allocated to the Class of 2013, according to Tufts Election Commission (ECOM) Chair Sharon Chen, a sophomore. Cotton, Wilson and Goldberg are newcomers to the Senate, while the rest of the winners are incumbents. Of the three other freshmen on Senate this year, two did not run for reelection, while the third was not successfully re−elected.
Yesterday's election saw a 55.6 percent turnout, comparable with the turnout at the last regular Class of 2013 election in the fall, which boasted a 57 percent turnout. None of the other classes voted in the election as their classes' seats were uncontested.
"I'd say it's a fair turnout; it is one class and we do expect less as when more classes are involved," Chen said "I'm pleased to see that the freshman class is active."
This turnout was significantly higher than the special election held at the beginning of this semester to fill a vacant Senate seat — that election saw a 14.46 percent turnout. Chen attributed this to the fact that special elections tend to see lower participation and feature fewer candidates.
"Having 11 versus two [candidates] just makes it a bigger turnout," Chen said.
She added that the election went smoothly and no difficulties were encountered.
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by Ellen Kan
