Editor’s Note: Michael Onysko is a former deputy news editor for the Daily. Onysko was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
On Sunday, the Tufts Community Union Senate convened for the first time in the 2026-27 academic year. On the docket for discussion was a range of updates to the Senate’s bylaws, ongoing projects, funding dispersal practices and a closed-door meeting to discuss a recent Boston Globe op-ed criticizing TCU’s structure.
Sophomore Kirthi Vengat was elected to the sole open seat on the Allocations Board, which manages both supplementary funding and bookmark requests for student clubs and organizations on campus.
“Last year, as the assistant diversity officer, I was able to see how the committees were structured,” Vengat said in a speech to the Senate. “It helps to understand that we’re also all students, we all have our own backgrounds and it’s kind of interesting to see how our perspectives have brought us to the decisions that we made.”
The Senate’s five primary committees — Administration and Policy, Services, Community and Diversity, Education and Outreach — each announced a number of potential upcoming projects, including expansion of campus safety and work-study initiatives, menstrual product access expansion, dining improvements and local business partnerships. Senators will have a chance to pick their committees, where they will propose and work on campus projects over the semester.
Additionally, Outreach Committee Chair Michael Williamson, a sophomore, introduced a new “Senator of the week” program. Junior Spencer Kluger, who chairs the Administration and Policy committee, was this week’s pick.
TCU Parliamentarian Gunnar Ivarsson, a junior, proposed a number of updates to the Senate’s bylaws to codify certain longstanding norms and ensure that updates going forward will be documented and available for public review.
The Senate later reviewed upcoming changes to the Treasury’s budget policies. These changes will have an impact on the hundreds of student clubs and organizations that receive funding from the Senate’s over $2.8 million budget for the 2026-27 academic year.
Notable agenda items included increasing the Allocations Board’s funding maximum for requests that can be approved without the Senate from $6000 to $8000, a new pathway for student organizations to appeal funding decisions by the Allocations Board, a cutoff of funding for items such as graduation stoles or senior gifts and an increase in the student activities fee to $408, among others.
Under the proposed change, a student organization would need to submit an appeal of funding within 24 hours, while also fulfilling at least one of three conditions: the existence of new information not presented to the Allocations Board, a modification of the funding request or an error on the part of the Allocations Board.
“We have, at least I noticed, been a little bit more cognisant of how we’re giving out funding,” TCU Treasurer Michael Onysko, a senior, said. “With this, it comes with being on [Allocations Board] that you should be given more discretion when it comes to funding matters.”
The Senate then went into closed session to discuss a recent Boston Globe op-ed criticizing the existence of “community senate” seats, which are meant to represent certain groups on campus. TCU has not yet publicly responded to the Boston Globe op-ed and its assertions that its “community senate” seats could break federal non-discrimination law.
