Massachusetts State Representative Carl Sciortino, who represents the 34th Middlesex District, including parts of Medford and Somerville, announced that he is resigning, effective Friday, April 4, to become the executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. Sciortino, a Tufts University Class of 2000 graduate and one of only seven openly LGBT members in the state legislature, has spent his nine years in office productively advocating, in true Tufts fashion, for changes aimed at achieving social and economic justice. For example, in 2012, Sciortino was a lead sponsor of the Transgender Equal Rights law, which guarantees legal protection against discrimination based on gender identity or expression in Massachusetts.
While Sciortino's political legacy will no doubt continue after he has left office, his departures leaves a vacancy in the Massachusetts House of Representatives that will, optimally, be filled by someone who shares his values for equality across all spectrums. Taylor Barnard, a Tufts senior, has expressed interest in possibly attempting to follow in his footsteps. Barnard, who is currently the national president of the College Democrats of America, has suggested that he is "strongly considering" running to take Sciortino's seat.
While any developments would be contingent on Barnard's decision to run for office, the Tufts community should be excited at the prospect. A campaign process that begins with securing the initial 150 signatures necessary to file nomination papers and continues with weeks of canvassing and knocking on doors presents a fantastic opportunity to engage with the local community, which includes Tufts. Regardless of one's involvement in the political sphere, students on campus should be excited - or, at least, intrigued - by the idea of a member of their student body running for a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. As Tufts students, and members of the community Barnard could be representing if elected, we should all take consider the opportunity that such a race would provide to get involved in something with real weight and significance. Just as the thousands of students on campus would be an invaluable resource for Barnard throughout his campaign, Barnard could, reciprocally, be a powerful resource for having our voices heard in the greater political sphere.
As members of a campus community that so strongly emphasizes the importance of active citizenship, there is perhaps no better way for us to play a key role in making change than by getting involved - and staying involved - with local and state politics.
