A day after this year's presidential election, newly elected members of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate selected new leaders for the body's Executive Board and Allocations Board (ALBO) as well as Senate committee chairs during in-house elections on April 28.
Junior Antonella Scarano will serve as vice president, freshman Aaron Bartel as treasurer, sophomore Tomas Valdes as historian and freshman Danielle Cotter as parliamentarian. Freshman Kate de Klerk will serve as associate treasurer. They will round out the Executive Board, led by newly elected TCU President Brandon Rattiner, a junior.
The senators also chose new committee chairs last night. Sophomore Sam Wallis and freshman Joel Greenberg will co-chair the Services Committee; sophomore Samia Zahran — who this year ran unsuccessfully for TCU president — will serve as the chair of the Administration and Policy Committee; freshman Nunu Luo will serve as the chair of the Education Committee; sophomore Nedghie Adrien will chair the Culture, Ethnicity and Community Affairs (CECA) Committee; and sophomore Edward Chao will serve as the Student Outreach Committee chair.
Chao's ascension came after a constitutional mix-up. Senate members had originally instructed the Elections Commission (ECOM) to dissolve the Student Outreach Committee. They elected Chao, a sophomore, as the chair of the Special Projects Committee, which would have taken on the responsibilities that have traditionally fallen under the purview of the Student Outreach Committee.
But the Student Outreach Committee cannot be dissolved; it is one of five committees specifically named in the TCU Constitution. The Constitution does not mention the Special Projects Committee, however, and it can be dissolved.
After senators and ECOM realized the mistake, the Special Projects Committee was dissolved, and Chao was named to lead the Student Outreach Committee, which will now take on the responsibilities of the Special Projects Committee.
The Senate also chose six new members of ALBO, although nine total will serve on the board. Rattiner, as the TCU president, automatically serves on the board, and two spots are reserved for next year's freshman senators. Scarano, Wallis, de Klerk, Greenberg, Chao and sophomore Dan Pasternack were elected to the six open spots.
Scarano, the only member of last year's Executive Board to return to the Senate, said she was looking forward to using her experiences working on "very large decisions" the Senate made last year and making sure senators were passionate about their projects.
"I really think it's going to be a different Senate than last year," she said. "There are a lot of new members on the body; there's a very young Exec Board."
Bartel, who was the TCU assistant treasurer last year, said he was excited to work with the rest of the Executive Board.
"I think we have a group of very enjoyable, hardworking people," he said. "I see it as our responsibility to get the most enjoyment out of the Student Activities Fee as possible, and hopefully I'll be able to achieve that goal."
Rattiner, a junior, told the Daily after the elections that he was looking forward to working with the newly elected Senate leaders.
"I'm excited by the energy and the optimism that's being brought by the new members of the Executive Board and committee chairs," he said. "I think it's going to be one of the most supportive, accessible Senates we've seen in a very long time."
The chairs for the of Services Committee and Administration and Policy Committee were chosen in the only uncontested seats in the elections.
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Ben Gittleson contributed reporting to this article.
