The predictably congested flock of freshman Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate candidates is facing off today in an election for the class' seven seats.
Nineteen of the 20 hopefuls convened to pitch their candidacies and respond to questions at the Candidates Forum on Monday evening.
TCU President Duncan Pickard attended the event. "I was really impressed by all the candidates," he said. "I thought that they were all very well spoken and talked about some very pertinent ... issues on campus."
Today's election began at 12:01 a.m. and will continue until midnight. Only freshmen can vote.
At the forum, which was in Hotung Café, each candidate gave statements and answered questions — some prepared by the Elections Committee and some submitted by audience members.
Many of the candidates, quick to admit that after less than two weeks on campus they still had a lot to learn about their school, landed flat-footed when trying to answer on-the-spot questions about how to remedy problems with the Office of the Residential Life, enhance public safety or improve students' social life.
Some highlighted experience in student government during high school, while others admitted to being newcomers. One even came dressed up as Abraham Lincoln, and another sang and played a Dave Matthews Band song on the guitar during his opening remarks.
Twenty-one candidates originally sought the freshman seats, but Maya Kohli has dropped out of the race. The following is a list of the remaining candidates: Seth Rau, Manuel Guzman, Danielle Cotter, Aaron Bartel, Abe Stein, Elliott McCarthy, Colin Smith, Thomas Martinez, Arturo Gomez, Hershal Dave, Jason Rosenbaum, Katharina de Klerk – who did not attend Monday's forum – Nunu Luo, Greg Dong, Jimmy Zuniga, Danny Weiner, Christina Pappas, Joel Greenberg, Syed Asad Badruddin and Jibade Sandiford.
