Twenty-six student groups, a record high, were added to the list of on-campus organizations this year.
According to sophomore Shiva Bhashyam, the new group recognition chair of the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ), the 26 are the final set of new student organizations, resulting from 53 groups that were given temporary recognition by Director of Student Activities Jodie Nealley.
"Temporary recognition is given for people who are interested in starting new groups, allowing them to flyer on campus," Bhashyam said. "But it only lasts for 30 days and you don't get any money."
Out of the 29 groups that undertook the entire recognition process after receiving temporary recognition, the TCUJ decided against fully recognizing only three groups.
Other groups joined to become part of an existing student group. "The [TCUJ] only failed to recognize three [new] groups because some other groups turned into subgroups of existing groups," Bhashyam said.
According to TCUJ Vice-Chair sophomore Jake Resnicow, the additional groups raised "the number of student organizations under the [Office of Student Activites] to 178."
The record-high amount of new groups has implications about this year's student body. "I don't know the exact reason why there are more, but I would like to think students are becoming more innovative," Bhashyam said. "It also speaks to the diversity of students coming to Tufts. More students have different passions, and it's not just cultural diversity. [For example] there was the Ayn Rand Society - they are fulfilling a niche on campus."
Of the newly recognized groups, certain ones stood out to the TCUJ as exemplary additions to campus. According to Bhashyam, Engineers Without Borders, Descript Magazine and Tufts Broad2Be were the most interesting.
In order to gain recognition, "there was a lot of paperwork and it takes a while to get stuff done. You just have to be willing to put the effort in," junior Andrew Chira said. Chira founded the new music magazine, Melisma, which was recognized in October of this academic year.
Newly recognized groups are able to receive TCU funding, which ranges based on their projected expenses. "Every year there is a new group fund, and it is [the Allocations Board's] role to dole it out to each group according to how much they need," Bhashyam said. "A publication will need more money because they have to print."
More student groups on campus do not necessarily mean more TCU spending. "Technically we don't factor in money when we make our decisions; it can be very misleading," Bhashyam said. "Although there were many new groups, we de-recognized some, and some groups have very small budgets - they don't even apply for funding."
The TCUJ plays a significant role in the formation of new student groups, turning an idea into a structured organization. "Lots of times we help them with the logistics, with getting signatures, coming up with activities that they can plan on campus [and] making sure that they have a valid constitution," Bhashyam said. In the end, however, "the structure of the group is up to the founders, as long as they're not doing something blatantly against Tufts standards," he said.
According to Bhashyam, the process to start a new group on campus is not difficult. "As long as you know what you want to do, it shouldn't be a problem," he said.
