David Moon is no Larry Harris.
That much is obvious just by looking at him; the diminutive, chain-smoking Moon stands in sharp contrast to his hulking, preppie predecessor as Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate president. What the two stand for in many students' minds is even more telling. For those who remember the tumultuous last few years in Tufts' student government, Harris is the poster boy for Senate infighting, squabbles in the headlines and on the Viewpoints page, procedural fights with the TCU Judiciary, big, unrealized ideas, and powerful individual senators acting independently.
And after half a year as president, what does Moon represent? Well, not much at all. And that's just the way he likes it.
Students have heard little, if anything, out of this year's Senate - enough for many to wonder if it is doing anything at all. Sitting in his campus center office on a Wednesday afternoon, Moon leans back, props his feet on his desk, and proudly acknowledges that if that's what they think, his strategy is working.
Moon readily admits that he's built his Senate in direct response to those of years past, imploring senators to keep their personalities out of the headlines, mandating that they not try to take credit for individual accomplishments, and making it clear that if senators have dissenting opinions, those opinions should stay in the meetings.
By keeping the Senate out of the public eye, Moon hopes both to avoid the backlash of student animosity that has plagued past Senates and to present a united front to the students and administration. So far, it seems to be working. While Viewpoints by senators are now a thing of the past, so too are opinion articles against the Senate. Public forums like that on Brian's Rumors Daily, once a hotbed for Senate criticism, now barely register anything Senate-related - positive or negative. And the annual ritual of high-profile Senate resignations at midyear has come to a surprising halt, with only three senators leaving, all either to go abroad or for medical reasons.
"Compared to past Senates, yeah, we've been less focused on getting our names in the paper and more focused on getting things done," Moon said. "We are making a concerted effort to not waste our time fighting other students on trivial matters, and are instead lobbying the administration on the students' behalf."
Above Moon's head hangs a piece of paper listing five or six key projects for the year, most of which are crossed off as completed. At the top of the paper, in huge red letters, is a reminder: "Populism, not elitism."
Immediately below, only slightly smaller, another mantra: "It's the nickel & diming, stupid."
These are words Moon has tried to live by, believing that if the Senate stays out of students' hair most of the time, it can more effectively mobilize support for big projects when it's really needed.
"Nobody needs to hear about all the little stuff we do. Honestly, it doesn't matter to most people. So we like to be modest about our day-to-day activities."
But while keeping himself modest may be easy, ensuring restraint for an entire body of 29 voting members used to the campus spotlight is a bit tougher. Working behind the scenes to keep everyone in line is a full-time job, and Moon practically lives in his office, which is conveniently outfitted with all the comforts of home, even a Sony Playstation.
"It's been a tiring semester. It's more tiring to keep things quiet than to let everyone and everything out in the open," Moon admitted.
Getting it done
It is Friday morning, and Senate Vice President Eric Greenberg's alarm goes off at 8:45. He's got a meeting with Athletic Director Bill Gehling and Daily Editor-in-Chief Ben Oshlag at 10 a.m. Together, they're organizing a February conference of NESCAC schools to fight against changes in NCAA eligibility policies. After the meeting, Greenberg and Oshlag sit down to write a letter to Sports Illustrated on the value of athletic programs at small schools.Greenberg normally spends his Fridays on Senate business. Last year, the junior was a first-year senator, overshadowed by larger, louder personalities. This year, he is one of the few senators whose name might ring a bell with students, serving as the public face of the Senate at several events, including the social life forum and subsequent rally last semester.
"Last year, I thought we were doing a good job at one thing: Getting people angry at us," Greenberg said. "We got our names in the papers a hell of a lot. But what were we in the papers for? It was an 'Image Senate.' Everyone was obsessed with their image. Now, we're obsessed with getting work done."
The lack of Senate coverage in the campus media this year isn't only due to Moon's policies, however. If the students were tired of hearing about Senate business by the end of last year, media outlets were equally tired of covering it, according to Oshlag.
"We covered the Senate less partly because they were less vocal, partly because we knew the student body was tired of hearing about it, and partly because there was so much focus on other things going on campus," he said.
"With everything that happened last semester, anything the Senate was doing got
pushed into the background, and no one was eager to pull it back out. We tried to cover what students were interested in, and we knew that didn't include Senate politics," Oshlag continued.
"We know the image of the Senate in the past," agreed Greenberg, preparing for his next meeting with the Committee on Fraternities and Sororities (CFS). "We know students know that image, we know they don't like that image."
The CFS has been a crucial battleground in past months, as students and administrators try to hammer out a new social life policy. One of the key questions has been over using police details to manage parties on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights - and more specifically, who's going to pay for them. The administration wants the Senate to split the cost. The Senate wants it fully funded by the administration and the alumni.
At the meeting, Greenberg is noncommittal when plied by Dean of Students Bruce Reitman to split the cost. Greenberg leaves the CFS meeting early, marching up to Ballou to hash over the same issues with Vice President of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Mel Bernstein. Despite his neutral position at the meeting, Greenberg insists there's no way the Senate will help pay for the details, saying of the administrators, "We'll put them in the hot seat. We want to put them in the hot seat."
Moon sounded much the same when running for office last spring, when one of the key tenets of his platform was to end student versus student antagonism and redirect it at the administration. He has since backed off, and promises that, despite his campaign rhetoric, he and the rest of the Senate work hand-in-hand with the administration.
"We've developed a positive working relationship with most of the key administrators," Moon said. "Not to the detriment of the students, clearly. We know the time and place to fight it out."
Regardless of whether the two sides like one another, the Senate's aggressive tactics seem to be working. Telling Bernstein his agenda consisted of "things Larry Harris didn't get done," one vice president lobbied another on social life issues, changes to the block schedule, installing video message boards around campus, and administrative funding for a regular weekend bus into Boston.
While Greenberg, Bernstein, and fellow Senator Brad Stitchberry still couldn't reach consensus on the police details, and did not get very far on the schedule changes or the video screens, the senators came out with one victory. They secured $1,500 from Bernstein to fund their pilot bus program, bringing closure to almost two years of work on the plan.
Back at the Senate office, Greenberg relaxes during an afternoon meeting with Freshman Class Council President James Blockwood. The freshman wonders why he hasn't heard more from the Senate, why they've seemed to operate behind closed doors only, why only a few faces are ever seen.
"Other than you and the treasurer [Michele Shelton], I don't talk to anyone," Blockwood said. "There isn't enough interaction between the senators and the freshmen... They should have more contact with the people they're representing.
Both Moon and Greenberg acknowledge that this perceived distance from the student population is an unfortunate side effect of the "new Senate" and its emphasis on staying out of the public eye. They also realize that it may contribute to the notion that because the Senate isn't heard from, it isn't really doing anything.
"There is an impression on some parts of the campus that yeah, people wonder who the Senate is and don't think we do anything. But I do think people think we care about the issues more because we're working on them, not talking about them," Greenberg said.
Both senators point to their accomplishments this year as evidence of the job they've done, highlighting a new student escort service, curricular changes, the social life policy, the NESCAC issue, and the ongoing negotiations for building a new dorm as among the most prominent accomplishments of this year's Senate. All were on the master "To Do" list in Moon's office, and all have been checked off and largely completed, save one: housing.
The final meeting of Greenberg's day is with the housing coalition, a group composed of senators and concerned members of the community, many of whom were the very individuals who were so prominent last year: Tommy Calvert, Jesse Levey, Craig Waldman, Adam Carlis, Alethea Pieters, and senators Andrew Potts, Moon, and Greenberg all sit on the committee.
"You take all the criminals and you put them on an island - this is that island," Greenberg said of the group.
"They've been tamed, more or less," he adds with a grin. "But there was a point in time when these personalities couldn't sit in a room together. Of course, they're still the loud personalities they are, but now this is constructive."
And indeed, the meeting is contentious, loud, and often out of order, much like many of last year's Senate meetings. But they get done what they came to do, and the group prepares a reasonably unified plan to take to the trustee meeting on Feb. 9, when they will petition for a 300-bed dormitory. And Greenberg, smug in his chair, quietly watching the soap opera play out, thinks meetings like these an absolute testament to the success of the "new Senate." People like Craig Waldman and Jesse Levey, he said, would never have worked even this well together under last year's Senate, and for so little recognition.
"They would have standoffs at Senate meetings. They hated each other. And now, Craig Waldman has been one of the most important people this year on some issues. He's done it a lot of the time working hand-in-hand with Jesse," Greenberg said.
Waldman, well-known last year as TCUJ chair for his sparring with Larry Harris over internal governmental issues, now relishes the chance to work behind-the-scenes on special Senate projects, and is confident that, with a few small exceptions, things are running smoothly.
"Are things getting done? Yes, things are getting done, even in Dave Moon's rather private way," Waldman said.
"The only negative aspect of this 'out of the public eye' strategy is that accountability can be rather low because the student's business is being done with less attention by the press," he continued. "As I said last year, I believe we ought to be as open as possible. In an ideal world, we can drop the egos and work in public. One step at time, however, is good enough for me."
And Levey, his onetime opponent, agrees.
"I was in the press a lot as a senator, but it's not like it does a senator any good. It's not like it's that competitive to get re-elected," Levey said. "Just because you're in the news, just because you see me, or Larry, or Ralan Hill, or Tommy in the papers, doesn't mean we have any more power... I think it's good to get rid of the egos.
"I'd much rather sit through a Senate meeting this year than last year - they're certainly a lot shorter."
The public face
Among Moon's first actions as president were to eliminate rules mandating a dress code and prohibiting food in the room during Senate meetings. Moon sits at the head, aloof, running a relaxed, more casual, and shorter meeting than in years past.At Sunday's meeting, even through an oft-contentious budget debate over co-sponsorships, Moon is quiet, letting the meeting run itself, interjecting only to clarify a point of procedure or explain a rule. It's obvious this isn't his favorite part of the job. At one point, a recess is called after one of his motions is voted down. Moon dashes off to confer with his side in private, working the one-to-one relationships outside of the constraints of parliamentary procedure. When they return, the final vote is for exactly the dollar amount Moon had recommended.
There are, of course, chinks in the armor. Moon's system, and its accompanying lack of public recognition, took a while to get used to - particularly for some incoming freshmen looking to make a name for themselves, and for older senators who didn't see the reasoning behind the new approach, according to Greenberg.
"It took a while in the beginning, especially for the exec board. Setting the tone with them was a lot more difficult. Then it more or less filtered down, and things calmed down a bit," he said.
Others, like Administration and Budget Committee Chair Andrew Potts, have from time to time been unhappy with the "one voice" approach, and have wanted to appeal to the student body through a Viewpoint or other means. But they have instead privately come to a compromise with Moon rather than buck the system.
And the relaxed approach at meetings is causing some difficulty keeping senators in line. Attendance problems have plagued Moon's Senate, with several senators skipping three or more meetings, normally grounds for expulsion. Moon, however, has chosen not to take disciplinary action.
"We're trying to rule with a carrot, not a stick. There's always a handful of people every year who lag," Moon said.
In explaining his reasoning for not taking these senators to task, Moon again returns to last year as a point of reference, ever careful to remind those around him that, in his mind, the grass is not always greener on the other side. "Look what happened [last year]," he said. "Student government suffered because people took drastic actions. The costs of trying to do anything like this are great. It's creates controversy between students when we are concentrating on working for the students."
Now, after a half year, people are used to his methods and ideas, and the self-admitted control freak promises to loosen the reins a little and let other people handle more day-to-day affairs. Moon wants to concentrate more on the special projects that brought him here, hoping to rekindle some of the passionate activism that the burden of leadership often saps.
But Moon is here working for populism, not elitism. He came in railing against the establishment, and now, by any definition, he is the establishment. Tough, he says, for someone who still considers himself a rebel.
"Oh, it sucks. It's a lot easier to be on the sidelines yelling about whatever you're passionate about. It's a lot harder to be the focus, the magnet of criticism. But don't get me wrong. It's fun. It is."
