Robert Joseph is right choice for Tufts

Between the exams and papers that overwhelm students during the last week of school, it is important to read about the candidates for Tuesday’s Tufts Community Union Senate presidential election. Beyond allocating funds to student groups, the members of TCU play a significant role in campus culture and help shape university policy by acting as spokespeople for the student body. This year’s candidates, juniors Robert Joseph and Andrew N??ez, both offer impressive ideas for how to remedy on-campus issues and better the Tufts community.

Tomorrow’s election features two candidates who are competent, capable and incredibly passionate. In fact, Joseph and N??ez share similar perspectives on many key issues: Both are strong proponents of revising Tufts’ sexual assault policy; both are in favor of increasing financial support for students through various measures, including need-blind admissions; both advocate for reforming the role of the Resident Assistant and for a University Pass (U-Pass) program. With each contender boasting such comparable, progressive platforms, it’s impossible for Tufts to lose in this election. Regardless of the outcome (unless Generic Candidate swoops in for the win), the Tufts community will be in good hands. The only question is, in whose hands will Tufts thrive more?
Ultimately, we believe that Tufts will benefit the most with Robert Joseph as TCU president. Joseph has continuously emphasized his open-minded, inclusive leadership style. Were he elected head of the TCU Senate, Joseph will build bridges between all organizations and people, from The Group of Six to Tufts’ athletics teams – something that the Daily feels is critical in order to create a more unified student body.

To his credit, N??ez has been a particularly vocal advocate for a number of groups on campus, especially for members of marginalized or disadvantaged communities who often need a louder voice. He has and is encouraging the university to set up a scholarship fund for undocumented students and said he would like to push for increased equity for transgender students through gender-inclusive faculty training and gender-neutral bathrooms. His idea to form a lending library to reduce textbook costs for students on financial aid is both compelling and feasible. And last year, as part of the Equal Education Opportunity Committee, N??ez was also a staunch objector to the Committee on Student Life’s highly controversial “justified departure” policy. Yet, while there’s no doubt that N??ez has students’ best interests in mind, Joseph has vowed to reach many of these same groups and more.

What sets Joseph apart is not just the wide range of students he will serve, but also his approach to understanding their needs. He has a long history of reaching out to disparate faculty and student groups, and actively involving them in the process of finding solutions. This spring, for example, Joseph began pushing to establish education as a possible second major for undergraduates. Before penning his resolution, Joseph made a point to speak with knowledgeable and interested faculty members, in order to get input from those who had the most thorough understanding of the discipline. In regards to the U-Pass, Joseph didn’t simply announce his support – he actually joined Tufts Transit Coalition, helping the group gain over 2,000 signatures. Joseph has additionally pledged to work with student activists to improve the sexual assault policy and has even approached others on campus, including Tufts RAs, with his ideas. Through these conversations, he concluded that there should be individuals trained to help victims of sexual violence stationed in every on-campus living space who are separate from RAs, so that he or she will not be forced to report confidential information. These examples make it abundantly clear: Joseph is not just willing to work for the Tufts community – he wants to work with them, too.

In this race, there is no reason to vote against either candidate – only a seemingly infinite number of reasons to vote for each of them. Joseph and N??ez are both dedicated, enthusiastic Senators who will undoubtedly bring fresh ideas to the table.

But, ultimately, Joseph better understands the role of TCU President: to be a negotiator. He is a person who can orchestrate change without alienating people in the process. His strategy of interacting with both the “experts” who know the most about the issues and those who will be most affected by university decisions is commendable, and is something Tufts should look for in a TCU president.