Annual Student Leadership Dinner sparks outreach, collaboration

 On Nov. 13, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate Student Outreach Committee hosted its sixth annual Student Leadership Dinner, which brings together the leaders of student organizations across campus, at 51 Winthrop St.

The aim of the dinner was to generate dialogue about what student groups have been doing on campus, according to TCU Senator Brian Tesser, who organized the event.

“We do this event every year, and every year we put a little bit of a different spin on it,” Tesser, a junior, said. “[This year,] we realized we wanted to put the focus on the student groups that are coming. We think that each [group] brings something really unique to this campus and something special that we want to be able to learn from you."

Attendance this year consisted of about 150 student leaders -- an increase of about 20 students from last year’s dinner, according to Tesser. Most of the student groups sent two representatives, and each group was assigned to one of 15 round tables. Each table hosted several groups and was staffed by at least one TCU senator.

Tesser explained that every senator had been supplied with a list of questions to stimulate discussion at each table, but he encouraged students to engage in fluid and wide-ranging conversations.

“If different conversations come up, let them go,” he said. “We want to hear what you have to say. This event is about you [all].”

Graham Goudeau, who represented the Futurism Society at Tufts, said that the dinner was extremely productive. The Futurism Society was able to interact positively with student representatives from the Tufts Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program (STOMP) and begin planning a co-hosted event with them, he added.

“We are collaborating with the STOMP group to work on writing a curriculum together,” Goudeau, a sophomore, said. “[The Futurism Society] actually has plans brewing to do education type stuff, so it was convenient … It seems like a great opportunity to actually act on our plans for education and for outreach.”

Ryan Johnson, co-founder of the newly TCU-recognized Cheese Club, said that the dinner represented a good way to increase campus awareness of the club, which focuses on appreciating cheese as well as discussing the politics behind the food.

“I’m sure a lot of people by now have heard of Cheese Club, but [the club would like] to show that we’re hoping to work with other groups on campus on various interdisciplinary projects -- just show that we’re open to branching out and getting to know new people and meeting new groups," Johnson, a sophomore, said.

The Tufts Muslim Student’s Association (MSA) also expressed enthusiasm about the Leadership Dinner. Umar Shareef, MSA's vice president of religious activities, noted that one of the group's goals in attending the dinner was to expand its outreach beyond the Muslim community.

“[We would like to] broaden our outreach, our presence, on the campus, so that we are no longer only exclusive to Muslims, but rather anyone that feels that they can benefit from our organization,” Shareef, a sophomore, said.

At the end of the dinner, which lasted almost two hours, Tesser said that he was pleased with the attendance and the interactions among students.

“From what I heard from people, it went over really well,” he said. “I think that people generally were able to talk to other groups and get different insights that they maybe didn’t have before … and I think above all else it’s an opportunity for other groups on this campus to get a sense of how Senate can help them in different ways.”