Citing rising entertainment costs and the two-week-old discovery that tens of thousands of dollars in debt were unaccounted for in the Tufts Community Union (TCU) budget, the Senate voted 8-7-8 on Sunday to cut funding earmarked for next year's Fall Fest. The cuts will be diverted toward shoring up the three Concert Board events set to take place this year.
Without TCU funding, the future of Fall Fest will be contingent upon Senate efforts to find alternate funding for the annual concert. Assistant Treasurer Nikhil Abraham said yesterday that despite the treasury mishap, the latest move was a Senate-wide initiative.
"This was a Senate decision, not a treasury decision," Abraham said. "We had less money to work with so we had to cut an event."
According to Abraham, the Senate made the cut because the Concert Board needed the money to fund the remaining events planned for this year. This gap, he said, resulted in part from rising entertainment fees and in part from overly optimistic ticket sales forecasts.
TCU Vice President Melissa Carson said that senators hope to retain the spirit of Fall Fest even if the concert comes in a different format. "It's worth looking for another way," she said.
Former Senator Pritesh Gandhi fought for the cancellation of funds, saying that it was important to "guarantee the three events of Concert Board will occur" and to reserve money into the buffer fund. This fund allows the Senate to combat deficit at the end of each year by providing a safety net for any funds that run dry. He said that if Fall Fest had been funded by the Senate, no money would have remained for this purpose.
Gandhi went on to say that the Senate should take the blame for the oversights which caused this year's deficit, and will now work to ensure that Fall Fest will happen next year. "The student body should be assured that members of the Senate are doing everything in our power to make sure Fall Fest will occur," he said. "I am absolutely certain the $30,000 can be raised."
Trustee representative and former senator Jesse Levey, however, says that students were being unfairly punished for the Senate's mistake. Further, he said that the senators should not be independently raising funds to make this event happen. "Fall Fest to me is exactly the type of event we should be using TCU funds for," he said.
Despite arguments against the decision, the motion passed. Now, TCU President Eric Greenberg and other senators are setting up a funding committee to fundraise for Fall Fest. "We're confident we will be able to raise the funds," Abraham said. This year's Fall Fest cost about $32,000.
The motion that passed at Sunday night's meeting followed three other motions, which were all voted down. Some senators proposed to cut one of this year's Concert Board shows, such as the rock, hip-hop or jazz show, and contract a Fall Fest band from the same genre as the one removed from this year's lineup.
Other proposals called for a range of cuts. For example, each year the TCU President receives a stipend to stay at Tufts during the summer to work on Fall Fest, but given recent events, this could change. TCU President Eric Greenberg said that "next year's president might or might not receive a stipend." The budget committee will probably vote on the issue of the President's stipend next week, according to Prasad.
If the senators are unable to raise the necessary funds, or at least not enough to hire a big-name band, next year's Fall Fest will be scaled down, or possibly cancelled. This would mark the second such gaff in four years. In 1998, the concert was cancelled as stages were being erected because the Senate had failed to make adequate arrangements for event security.
Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said that cuts frequently occur when the University faces monetary problems. "It's a shame but I think we are all facing budget realities and the Senate is not exempt," he said.
