This past year, I have had the honor and the privilege to serve as the Tufts Community Union's (TCU) Parliamentarian. It was my job to offer unbiased assistance in writing resolutions and to impartially moderate debates concerning these resolutions. Even during the debate regarding the new justified departure policy for religious groups on campus, I remained steadfast in my devotion to staying outwardly neutral. After that meeting, I described the experience as being more challenging than a championship Little League baseball game I umpired four years prior. Despite the extreme pressure of refereeing the debate over the Committee on Student Life's new policy, I was thankful that this time around, forgetting to wear a cup was not as painful.
I rarely had the opportunity to weigh in on pressing matters that came before the Senate this year. Many of my colleagues saw my responsibilities of staying unbiased as extending to the rest of my involvement on Senate. As you may be aware, there were many controversies and much drama on Senate this year; yet, I have made no enemies, even though I was often part of the action. The big secret that few have realized is that my role as parliamentarian is not the reason why I've made no adversaries. My perceived neutrality boiled down to the way I expressed my opinions. As of the final Senate meeting of the year, I am the TCU Parliamentarian bound to impartiality no more. And yes, I have tons of opinions, many of which I feel very passionately about. However, now that I've reclaimed my voice, the first thing I want to assert is that we all (myself included) need to take a moment to assess how we share our opinions.
As I once mentioned to my Senate colleagues, the art of Senate" is really a game of toes and communication. I was partially wrong
