Candidates for TCU President should keep key issues in mind

According to the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate constitution, a newly formed body is required to meet within three academic days of electing a new Senate. Following Tuesday's elections, Senate will gather soon to nominate candidates for TCU President. Whether the next president runs unopposed or in a contested race, they will inherit a campus where the Senate has already made meaningful gains. As a group, the Senate was instrumental in convincing the administration to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, taking a significantly more visible role in its advocacy. Other background policy discussions on minors for French and Spanish and class requirement changes are also in the works. The new president will, however, inherit a weighty agenda for changes in campus life and reforms inside of Senate that students should keep in mind as the campaign begins.

Since last year's changes to club funding for off-campus travel, the Senate has come under scrutiny for how it funds student organizations. Cultural groups, as well as campus media organizations such as WMFO, have faced difficult rules changes and steep cuts to their budgets, all while questions have been raised about transparency in decision making by the Allocations Board. The next president will have to consider how best to continue to open up the Senate's processes as the body has done with its weekly videos, and whether the broader allocation of funds is on the right track.

The demands of #TheThreePercent also need to continue to be present in our community, as well as the broader questions those demands illustrate about the lack of racial diversity on campus. The next president should keep in mind specific policy items including advocating support for "undocumented, international and first-generation students," as well as increasingly broader university transparency on student demographics, acceptance and admittance rates. As one student advocated to the Senate last fall, the university could strongly benefit from a Senate report comparing how Tufts does with outreach to black students as compared to peer schools in New England.

Another issue that remains ever-present for Senate to grapple with is that of university housing. The president needs to be aware of the lack of sufficient on campus housing, the safety of all Tufts student residences and the rising costs of often-exploitative off-campus housing situations, and continue to work with other senators and administrators to address housing problems.

These issues impact all of us within the Tufts community outside of every Senate meeting, so it is important that every member of the community take careful stock of the platforms and qualities of the candidate or candidates who will be nominated for TCU President. Senate has shown us this year that they can enact tangible, effective changes, and we encourage students to make their voices heard in this year's presidential election to ensure that they continue to do so.