This article is first in a series on gender-related issues on the Hill.
When Tufts Community Union (TCU) senator Christie Maciejewski last year served as TCU Treasurer at the head of the Senates Allocations Board, or ALBO, the budgeting committee had so many male members it was commonly referred to as all-bro.
Over multiple semesters on a Senate designed to represent the interests and desires of the TCU to the faculty,
administration and the Trustees of Tufts University, Maciejewski had moved up in the ranks of a Senate that is now, and has historically been, a male-dominated body.
The imbalance has been noted by senators both male and female, and all agree that the dearth of women representatives to the body is significant.
TCU Vice President Meredith Goldberg, a senior, said she has taken note of the low numbers of women on the Senate throughout her time there.
In a school where were not a minority by any means, the fact that we are underrepresented says something, she said.
The number of women on the body varies from year to year. TCU President Wyatt Cadley, a senior, attributed this pattern to fluctuations in voting trends, saying that women tend to be elected in contested elections while men tend to walk on in uncontested elections. He cited last years Senate class of 2012 of ten male senators who ran uncontested.
I think its that voters tend to recognize that women tend to be underrepresented, and in turn when theyre presented with a choice, they do tend to vote for the woman candidate, Cadley said.
Even within the Senate, leadership roles have tended to be filled almost exclusively by male students.
A lot of people think that Treasurer is a boy thing, money is a boy thing, Maciejewski said. But I was the one who wanted it most ... and [I] got it, she said.
Having a place among the boys wasnt always comfortable, Maciejewski said.
I was later told that [the TCU president] didnt necessarily trust a younger woman in the office, but I think I proved myself competent ... I dont think every woman would have enjoyed the position I was in.
Goldberg said the Senate has a long way to go to equalize the gender balance on the body. She is currently the only woman on the Executive Board of seven senators, compared with a mostly even split between men and women on Executive Board in 2009-2010.
Senate is a body thats supposed to be approachable to any member of the community, Goldberg said. I think its difficult when you walk into an exec meeting [when] Im not there and its just all these men in a room ... it feels like were back to the 1950s sometimes.
The male-heavy results of the 2011-2012 Senate elections could be attributed to the large number of uncontested elections, Cadley said. This years body, however, displayed a noticeable shift towards greater female representation on the body. In last weeks elections to fill four seats, two women were elected to junior and senior Senate seat, bringing the total number of female senators on the body to 14 women of 36 total senators.
When I look at the freshman and sophomore classes, they really have become more diverse, Goldberg said. Senate is becoming more the voice of the students, were moving in that direction.
Maciejewski found that low numbers of women in leadership roles has the effect of discouraging younger women in Senate from stepping up.
I think one thing that would make women a lot more comfortable is having more women in leadership roles, in front of the room, Maciejewski said. I think because there [are] men at the head of Senate, its harder a lot of women may not want to take that lead.
Goldberg agreed, adding that she might have been more apprehensive of seeking a higher office if she were to run today.
If I was a freshman this year and I looked at the [Executive Board], Id be like, theres one woman on it? [and]
Id think, well maybe this is not where Ill end up, she said.
Maciejewski agreed that it is easier for men to gain and hold leadership positions.
I think a woman has to be exceptionally qualified to move up, more than men they really have to have a track record and a loud voice, she said.
In Cadleys view, the most glaring illustration of inequality is the fact that no woman has been elected president of Senate in the last ten years, and no woman has run for president for two years.
I think there is a sense in every woman candidate ... whos considered running over the years that they would be trailblazing ... if they were elected, Cadley said.
Goldberg said that she feels obligated to speak up as a woman as well as a class senator on so-called womans issues addressed by the Senate, which have included reforms to the sexual assault policy and gender-neutral housing.
Ive felt that I need to voice my opinion [strongly], just to make sure that sides heard, she said. I felt an even stronger need to run for exec board this year, to show the freshmen and sophomores that they do have a place on exec board if youre a woman, that it isnt just white men that get on exec because quite honestly, thats a very overwhelming trend of the past.
The Senates vote in December to establish a community representative position for the Womens Center a person who would join the other community representatives in speaking and voting for underrepresented groups on the Hill in Senate meetings was one attempt to alleviate the gender imbalance in TCU politics. Junior Grainne Griffith, who was elected to the position in last weeks election, said she hopes to provide an educated voice on gender in meetings and spearhead more of these initiatives.
You cant really rely on class senators to always do these kinds of projects
theres nothing saying they have to or even should, she said. Its really important to have a position on Senate whose sole job is to take up these sorts of projects.
Griffiths, who served as the LGBT Center community representative during her freshman and sophomore years, expressed that she often felt obligated to speak out from a feminist perspective in that position. She said that the new community representative position will help Senate regularly take gender into account in their discussions and decisions.
In terms of awareness, I think more can be done to improve how aware everyone is of gender dynamics on campus and on Senate itself
just in terms of sexual assault policy, rape culture, how
women [are] going through campus, how men [are] going through campus, Griffiths said.
According to Cadley, the Senate displayed broad support for the establishment of the Womens Center Representative (WCR). Griffiths has many plans for the semester, including promoting awareness of gendered pronouns and expanding the gender-neutral housing policy.
But both Goldberg and Griffiths say that the presence of the WCR should not replace individual class senators focus on gender issues.
I know a lot of class senators have told me that sometimes they feel uncomfortable voting a certain way with feminist interests in mind, when they feel that representing their class might mean something else, Griffiths said. I personally dont see how that can even be a possibility, because usually representing your class means representing feminist interests.
Despite Senates increasing gender diversity and new permanent voice on gender issues, it remains clear to senators that diversity of race and sexual orientation is still lacking.
Ive had a lot of conversations over the years with people about how they feel about Senate, how they feel about their representation, Cadley said. There [are] definitely people that are very much disappointed by the fact that theres not more diversity, either gender or racial
on Senate.
Senate does have the reputation of being straight white males, Maciejewski said.
--
Editor's note: A quote in this article asserts that former TCU President Tomas Garcia (A 12) voiced mistrust of a young female student in a senior Senate position because of her gender. The Daily did not attempt to contact Garcia to respond to the claim before publishing the quote, and he refutes the claim. The Daily regrets the lapse in reporting.
