On Sunday, the Tufts Community Union Senate shared project updates from each General Board Committee and reviewed Treasury spending thus far.
TCU Treasurer Brendan French, a junior, shared a budget overview of how much money the Treasury has spent so far this school year. As of Sunday, the Treasury has spent $163,138 for on-campus events, off-campus events, new club budgets and equipment and supplies. The largest percentage of that has been spent on off-campus expenditures, which totals $112,925.
“We spend a lot when it comes to off-campus stuff, and that’s kind of just the nature of things. Travel is expensive whenever people travel off-campus,” French said.
TCU President Dhruv Sampat, a senior, shared updates regarding an upcoming meeting with Tufts’ Athletic Director, where he plans to discuss issues for club sports, including gym size and financial barriers to participation.
He also mentioned plans for a new amenity within the Boston Avenue residential hall, which is currently under construction.
“They’re hoping to put up a new gym in the new residential hall,” Sampat said. “That’s a new space that’s coming.”
Sophomore Spencer Kluger, chair of the Administration & Policy Committee, shared updates regarding ongoing projects, including the creation of a mail room dropbox for non-business hours.
“There’s a lot of packages that are being left outside of the bookstore. It’s not ideal. It could lead to theft,” Kluger said. “It could lead to misplaced packages, rain damage, anything like that. [Our goal is] finding a way that we can mitigate that and have a better solution there.”
Kluger also discussed expanding the textbook exchange program.
“We really want to get it at a higher level, get more textbooks involved, get it potentially into a more accessible, central place on campus, so more people can get textbooks, give textbooks,” he added.
Finally, Kluger addressed improving athletics for non-athletes at Tufts.
“We’re primarily, right now, figuring out a way that we can get equipment for free rent, either in the athletic center or the library, so students can just get outside more and have the equipment to do so,” Kluger said.
Education Committee Chair Gunnar Ivarsson, a sophomore, also shared updates regarding work on an upcoming event titled Major Insights.
“It’s just a time for students to come in and talk a little bit more about their major and sort of give advice, especially to underclassmen who haven’t declared their major yet,” Ivarsson said.
Ivarsson added that the committee was working on changing wording around introductory courses.
Rewording introductory courses involves “making [the language] more inclusive for students who aren’t necessarily first-years that are taking introductory courses,” he said.
Class of 2028 Senator Ruby Appleton shared that she is working with Residential Life and Learning to create an initiative to help first-years in their housing selection process.
“I’ve been interested in setting up a program where [first-years] can tour sophomore dorms, just so they know where they’re going to live, because it’s right on campus,” Appleton said.
Members from the Committee on Community & Diversity also shared updates on their projects.
FIRST Senator and sophomore Perla Fernandez shared that she is working on “making sure that Tufts provides toilet paper, paper towels to first-gen students and having a place where they can come and grab stuff.”
Disability Senator and first-year Kirthi Vengat is also working on adding more downhill stops to the Davis Square Shuttle.
Class of 2029 Senator Sydni Wheeler is working to secure free cleaning supplies in dorm common rooms for a Services Committee project.
“I was in the [Hodgdon Hall] common room and talked to my friend, and there was a func[tion] in the common room last night. There were a bunch of random chip bags and empty wrappers everywhere.” Wheeler said. “And the custodians don’t come on the weekend.”
“I just figured that having a dustbin, even when you’re cooking in the kitchen, like dish soap and a sponge … they would just make the living experiences a little bit easier,” Wheeler said. “I think having that would allow students to take some sort of accountability for their common room.”
The Outreach Committee is also working on posting coupons for restaurant partnerships in which Tufts students can get a discount at specific restaurants.
“We have three restaurants participating,” Outreach Committee Chair Aaron Dickson, a junior, said.
Class of 2027 Senator Anastasiya Korovska also shared that she is working on educational materials regarding the Treasury.
“I’m working on publishing a Treasury educational series on our Senate [Instagram] account, which helps with the transparency of the Treasury to students, and also with the preparation of clubs who come to [Allocations Board],” Korovska said.
The Senate then considered funding requests proposed by the Allocations Board from four student groups: South Asian Political Action Committee, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, Black Student Union and Singapore, Indonesian, Malaysian Student Association.
After some debate about the Allocation Board recommendation regarding SIMSA’s request, all supplementary funding recommendations were passed by the Senate.
Editor's Note: Gunnar Ivarsson is a former chair of the Daily's Ethics and Inclusion Committee. Ivarsson was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
