TCU Senate members elected for next year

Several new members were elected to Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, the Committee on Student Life (CSL) and TCU Judiciary after an online election Wednesday, according to an announcement from TCU Elections Commission (ECOM). In addition, a runoff election will be held today for the Class of 2020.

Voter participation for this year's election was 28.73 percent, up from 24.31 percent in last spring's election, according to ECOM Chair Klavs Takhtani.

For the Class of 2020, Malcolm Akinje was elected, joining reelected incumbent first-years Harry Kong, Kevin Gleason, Finn McGarghan, Shannon Lee and Phil Miller. The runoff election will be held on Student Information System (SIS) today to fill the seventh Class of 2020 seat, which was tied between Charles Brogdon-Tent and Christopher Campbell, according to Takhtani.

Campbell mentioned student life and Greek life reform, promoting healthy offerings in dining halls and improving student printing services as issues he would focus on if elected.

"I hope that at the end of the runoff election, I will be victorious, but regardless of the outcome, the Class of 2020 has a great Senate lined up to represent them in the upcoming school year," Campbell told the Daily in an email.

Brogdon-Tent pushed for transparency in Greek life and tuition increases, better representation for student groups on Senate and general changes in the way that Senate operates.

"We need structural changes such as allowing resolutions to be amended as they are being debated, before they are voted on," Brogdon-Tent told the Daily in an email. "[Also] I think the Senate has avoided standing up to the administration and demanding transparency on issues like Greek life and tuition hikes."

In the Class of 2019, next year's senators will be Adam Rapfogel, Malachy Donovan, Emily Sim and Jacqueline Chen, all of whom are currently on Senate, in addition to newly-elected Emma Phillips, Karan Rai and Matthew Kennedy.

Kennedy explained in an email to the Daily that his primary goal is to make TCU Senate more approachable and accessible to students.

"I ran for Senate after hearing from a lot of people that they didn't feel represented by senators," Kennedy said. "I found it unacceptable that students were intimidated by Senate as a group, so I decided to run to try to change that feeling."

For the Class of 2018's uncontested election, incumbent senators Benjamin Neikrie, Arden Fereshetian, Benya Kraus, Rati Srinivasan and Anna Del Castillo were reelected. Jordan Kemp and Seth Moreida will be the new 2018 senators. In Senate, Kemp hopes to expand opportunities for first-generation students and work to help part-time faculty.

"I feel that holding senate office will give me the opportunity [to] provide representation for students that share my mixed-race, low income and first generation identities," Kemp told the Daily in an email.

Also elected for next year were Womens Community Senator Michelle Delk, LGBTQ+ Community Senator Parker Breza, Latino Community Senator Leticia Rocha, Africana Community Senator Fatima Ajose, International Community Senator Maureen Kalimba Isimbi and Asian American Community Senator Charlie Zhen.

Zhen, who has spent the past year as a Class of 2019 Senator, explained that he ran to be a community senator to continue his work on culture club recognition and with the Asian American Center.

"I hope to make the Asian American Center more accessible for South and Southeast Asians, multiracial people and international students who may need more support," Zhen told the Daily in an email.

In addition, according to Zhen, elections for the newly created First-Generation Community Senator position will be held in the fall of 2017.

For the Judiciary, sophomores Kieran Taylor and Sophia Gomez, juniors Emily Tannenbaum, Meg Kenneally and Parth Patel and first-year Leo Mandani were elected. Finally, CSL's student members for next year will be junior Erin Quinnan, first-year Dean Ericksen, sophomore Samson Braun, sophomore Marissa Birne and junior Ania Ruiz.