Editor’s Note: Michael Onysko and Gunnar Ivarsson are both former Daily staffers. Onysko and Iverson were not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
At the Tufts Community Union Senate meeting on Sunday, members discussed the TCU Judiciary, clubs sports and ongoing projects.
The TCU Judiciary oversees the process for student groups to become recognized by the university. Advocacy Chair of the Judiciary Jia Nicdao spoke to senators about the Judiciary’s role and its importance for recognizing student groups on campus.
“Our main purpose is to oversee club recognition and re-recognition. And basically, recognition allows these clubs that are voted in to have more benefits, like TCU funding, room [reservations], [positions] at the club fair and just allow them to have more opportunities,” Nicdao said.
Following the discussion about club recognition, the Senate emphasized the importance of updating club mission statements. “I think it’s important to allow leaders of clubs to say ‘Hey, the need has changed, and we also need to weigh in differently on campus,’” TCU President Dhruv Sampat said.
The Senate also debated how it plans to work with club sports in the future, since they do not go through the Judiciary process but are funded by TCU.
Sampat noted that, along with club sports, many Leonard Carmichael Society and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Student Government Association subgroups do not go through the Judiciary either.
“We’re trying to align everyone the TCU gives money to and where that money is going … those are holes that we’re also looking to fill,” Sampat said.
“There are ongoing discussions to get the school to contribute to funding or for athletics to pay for certain club sports, but those are longer conversations,” Sampat said regarding club sports.
Sampat added that TCU spends at least $100,000 a year leasing six vans for club sports “in addition to everything else we give club sports.”
“Whether that should be coming completely from the Student Activities Fund, which is meant very directly for student activities, or whether we should also be paying for things like van rental and van leases — even when TCU by and large doesn’t always get to use them the same way as club sports — [is something we’re still discussing],” he said.
The Student Activities Fund has not changed in eight years. “We’ll be talking to [the trustee representatives that manage the Student Activity Fee] about recognizing that and also seeing that if nothing’s going to change there, then the administration needs to step up,” Sampat said.
The Senate also went over brief project updates from its various committees.
The Administration & Policy Committee is collaborating with the Food Insecurity Subcommittee for a meal swipe drive this week, running through Nov. 14. “It’s just to get as many swipes as possible from any person who’s on a meal plan … [where] all 400 swipes are not being used,” TCU Vice President Alex Vang said.
The Education Committee is hosting a Major Insights event, featuring “ambassadors from different departments across Arts and Sciences, Engineering and SMFA [to] talk about their experience [with] people who haven’t declared a major yet,” sophomore and Education Committee Chair Gunnar Ivarsson said.
“I started preliminary discussions [about] free printing during finals, trying to see if we could work anything out with Tisch library and also the Dean’s Office. I have a meeting scheduled with them next week to see if we could work anything out and see possible avenues for funding,” Class of 2027 Senator Michael Onysko said.
“I'm also working with Tisch Library to secure a coffee vending machine. We have a vendor approved, and we have a space approved in Tisch library. We’re just waiting on [Tufts Technology Services] to process the payments,” he added.
The Committee on Community & Diversity will host a meet-and-greet and town hall in the Mayer Campus Center lobby Friday, Nov. 15 from 1–2 p.m., according to committee Chair Iman Boulouah.
The Senate also heard an appeal for funding from the Amalgamates a capella group, which requested $2,400 to record songs for an album. Two group representatives attended the meeting, and the Senate voted to approve the funding.
The Senate also reviewed Allocations Board recommendations for funding for the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tufts Mock Trial and Planned Parenthood Action. The Senate passed all funding recommendations.
“We’re doing fantastically well, [but] unfortunately, we’re on a bit of a tighter timeline now. We have three Senate meetings left,” Sampat said to Senate members. “So this month is really the last month that we can help. … As much as possible, carve out time in your personal days — even if it’s half an hour every other day — to just follow up on these projects and make sure we’re in a good position.”
