Judiciary responds to new pressures

The Tufts Community Union Judiciary has passed new bylaws in response to concerns about the rights of student organizations' subgroups.

Controversy arose earlier in the semester when the Bhangra Club tried to separate from the Tufts Association of South Asians (TASA), its parent group. Representatives from the Bhangra Club said the club had a different membership from the rest of TASA, and would develop better as an independent group. Bhangra also said that it should not suffer from TASA's ineligibility for buffer funding after it made an illegal reimbursement request last semester.

The Judiciary denied the request, and said the issues could be solved with increased communication with the TASA executive board.

"Bhangra was not an easy decision to make," Judiciary member and sophomore Jordana Starr said. The decision was without obvious precedent, and forced judiciary members to closely examine the TCU Constitution.

The new bylaws, passed last month, attempt to clarify the rights of subgroups. In order for a subgroup to leave its parent organization, the bylaw states the group must prove that the "continued existence of the subgroup under the parent organization jeopardizes the purpose and/or function of the subgroup." The group must also meet the eligibility requirements for any new organization -- that is to say, groups cannot have missions that overlap with existing organizations, and must benefit from University recognition.

The new bylaws will also require all subgroups to be registered with the Judiciary when it begins re-recognizing student organizations next semester.

Moffat said the Judiciary was concerned new groups could exist as a subgroup, but function as a new group. "The thing for subgroups that is kinda scary is you can just bypass the entire recognition process," she said. "TCU Senate budgets are not required to broken down by subgroup, so groups could theoretically use funds allocated for the main group to fund a new subgroup."

But the original purpose of the bylaws was much more mundane: to ensure that campus flyers were legitimate. Moffat said that requiring subgroups to register helped the Judiciary ensure that posters on campus were placed by recognized student organizations -- a task that became increasingly difficult as subgroups proliferated.

"We need to know who you are," Moffat said. "This is a really helpful way for us to do that."

Many organizations which appear to be officially-recognized groups are actually subgroups. The Tufts Coalition to Oppose the War in Iraq (TCOWI) is part of the Coalition for Social Justice. The Leonard Carmichael Society has almost fifty different subgroups.

The Judiciary also hopes the registering of subgroups can ensure that proposed groups do not interfere with the purpose of a subgroup.

So far this semester, the Judiciary has approved ten new student organizations. Seven more have been tabled because the Judiciary sought more information. Almost 40 new groups have filed for temporary recognition -- the first step in the recognition process.

Organizations can file for recognition until February, when the Judiciary stops accepting new groups for this year.

Sophomore Priti Julka, the head of the Bhangra Club, was confused at Judiciary's intent. "We said our purpose was different than TASA and now they've changed the rules, and that's what we've been arguing all along," she said.

Julka said the group is in the process of appealing the decision to the Committee on Student Life (CSL), but is still waiting to receive the minutes of the Judiciary's meeting. She said members plan on filing the appeal next semester.

Under the new regulations, all groups would have to amend their Constitutions to define subgroups and their purpose. Each group would have a defined mission statement and purpose, which the Judiciary could enforce.

If a group member or another student filed a complaint against a subgroup, the Judiciary could find them in violation of the Constitution. But Starr said she does not expect the Judiciary to interfere with subgroups' activities.

"We haven't had that," Starr said. "People tend to join groups in which they are interested in the mission statement of the constitution."

Chemistry professor Chris Morse, a member of the CSL, said the board would review the new bylaws to ensure they complied with the TCU Constitution.

"The [TCU]J is certainly within its powers," he said. "The bylaws are changing as new issues come up and none of the previous precedence or issues cover it."

The new bylaws will also be sent to the TCU Senate, a process TCUJ Chair Abby Moffat described as a "courtesy." The Senate has no power to overturn the rules of the Judiciary.

However, the Judiciary is required by the TCU Constitution to present bylaws at the Senate Meeting following the passage of the rules. Moffat said she was aware of the regulation, and had been in contact with Senate President Chike Aguh. Moffat plans to outline the new regulations at a Senate meeting next semester.