With a two-pronged platform focused on improving communication and community at Tufts, Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate presidential candidate Lauren Levine, a junior, hopes to enhance the undergraduate experience for every student if elected this Wednesday.
"As president, I will actively engage the entire Tufts community to face some of our campus issues, and I think that I will be able to better advocate for student needs to the administration," Levine said.
Levine's platform stresses increased communication between the Senate and the student body to ensure that the projects the body undertakes are truly a reflection of students' needs.
"One of the biggest problems that the Senate faces is that there is very little communication between Senate and the student body," Levine said. "We need to direct our energies to listening to student concerns and addressing their issues."
While Levine served on the Senate for two years in different capacities, her study abroad plans prevented her from serving on the body this year. She noted, however, that upon her return to Tufts this semester, she worked with the Senate from the outside as an involved student.
This experience, Levine said, enabled her to understand the gap between the Senate and the student body, because as a non-senator she often tried unsuccessfully to express her views during meetings.
"I went to every single Senate meeting [this semester] and saw what it was like to have Senate not listen to your voice," Levine said. "Should someone actively choose to go to a Senate meeting, then he or she deserves to be heard."
The goal of increasing communication also applies to the Senate's relationship with the administration, Levine said. She called for regular meetings with relevant administrators to form a more solid relationship between the Senate and the administration and to increase effectiveness.
"A relationship should be formed between Senate and administration, not just the Senate demanding things when a project comes up," Levine said. "By developing this relationship, we can deal with unforeseen problems and accomplish some of our more ambitious goals."
Levine cited her experience as TCU associate treasurer and a member of the executive board as giving her an advantage in interacting with administrators.
Her second main goal if elected president is to increase the cohesion and the sense of community on campus, especially with regard to diversity issues.
"The most important issue that faces the student body is the diversity at Tufts that we are not embracing," Levine said. "Our institution needs to take an active role in making sure that every single student at Tufts feels like this is an accepting community."
Levine said that through discussions with students, she has noticed that many minority communities feel alienated from the larger Tufts community.
Among many strategies to address this, Levine highlighted the importance of responding quickly to bias incidents, properly dealing with the resulting aftermath and offering more diversity-related academic programming.
Creating a sense of community is especially relevant given the recent discussions about the role of community representatives in the Senate. Levine believes that community representatives should be granted full voting rights as members of the Senate.
"The discussion that took place this semester was long overdue," Levine said. "I think that the most important thing it did was propose plans that would legitimize the community representative positions so that they would truly represent their communities. With that legitimate representation, they deserve full rights as senators."
Levine's opponent, junior Sam Wallis believes that his campaign's platform and goals are more relevant to the study body.
"I think Lauren has really good experience with the [TCU] Treasury and has done some really good things, but I think that the things that I have worked on have been more related to the concerns that students have expressed," Wallis said. "Each of the projects came out of something students wanted to have changed, such as wireless and reducing costs."
Addressing Wallis' platform, Levine said that his emphasis on individual projects is more reminiscent of a senator's role and not a president's.
"The difference between TCU president and senator is that the president has to look beyond projects," Levine said. "My goals require the lobbying power and authority of the TCU president."
Senior Xavier Malina, a previous senator who has worked on the Senate with both candidates and is advising Levine's campaign, believes, however, that her leadership style will be more effective and productive.
"Lauren shows more passion and intensity in how she likes to organize things," Malina said. "She has an innate desire to get involved with projects … and it is part of her personality to take an active role. Sam's style is a bit more laid back."
"As far as Senate presidents go, the ones that have a more active leadership style tend to lead to a more productive Senate," Malina continued.
Levine's ability to converse one-on-one with students coupled with her vast experience should give her an advantage with voters, according to campaign manager Cory Faragon, a sophomore and Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) community representative.
"Lauren is fabulous in debates, and her website really promotes an accurate picture of who she is, but we've found that when she sits down with students and they see how genuine, interested and able she is, they are blown away," Faragon said.
