TCU Senate Update

In its final meeting of the fall semester,the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate held elections for an open position within the TCU Allocations Board, voted on an amendment to a bylaw on outreach and listened to updates from various chairs.

Allison Aaronson, the senate's diversity and community affairs officer, opened the meeting by discussing the recent non-indictments of two white police officers after the killings of two black men. Aaronson, a sophomore, publicly condemned the Missouri and Staten Island grand juries which made the respective decisions.

"I'm addressing these current events because I want to acknowledge that these events pertain to Tufts," she said.

Aaronson explained that Tufts community members cannot simultaneously exist in a bubble and be active citizens, adding that "this affects everyone at Tufts."

She asked senators to "reflect on who benefits from [the Tufts University Police Department] and who is profiled by them."

Noting that incidents of police violence against black men do not exist in isolation, Aaronson also asked senators to hold four-and-a-half minutes of silence. She then opened up the discussion for senators to comment and share opinions.

"If we want to give Senate the legitimacy we think it’s due, then that requires us to sort of step up to be those community members that mirror the sentiment of campus and that work constructively to meet the needs of campus," Senator Sam Berzok, a junior, said.

Dan Johnson, a senior and chair of the Tufts' Elections Committee, then began the elections for a vacant spot on the Allocations Board for spring 2015. Senator Jack Colelli, a first-year, was elected.

TCU Treasurer Adam Kochman, a junior, reported that there were no new requests to the Allocations Board. He added that a state of the treasury speech will be made upon the Senate's first meeting after break to discuss how much money is left in the supplementary fund and to address potential changes for next year.

Senator Brian Tesser, a junior, explained the details of a new proposed amendment to Senate Bylaw Seven on outreach. He explained that the proposed change would make the Senate more accessible by assigning a set number of student groups to each senator, who would then serve as the "pinpoint person for that group."

Under the new amendment, Senators will report back to the Student Outreach Committee when they communicate with their assignment groups, Tesser explained, adding that they have not finalized exactly how groups will be assigned to senators, but senators will be assigned groups with similar characteristics.

The Senate passed the resolution 24-0-1.

TCU President Robert Joseph then gave a report on the current housing ordinance being discussed in the City of Somerville, explaining that the focus of the ordinance has shifted away from evicting students and toward ensuring the safety of students, perhaps through new reporting mechanisms. He said that the ordinance will go to the city's Board of Aldermen in January, but added that he is confident that the ordinance will protect students from potential evictions.

Trustee Representative Joe Philipson, a senior, voiced his concern over students reporting their housing information, citing privacy issues that could ensue.

Aaronson then spoke about her project to increase the number of gender neutral bathrooms on campus. She said the project aims to develop a policy whereby students will have to opt out of housing with gender neutral bathrooms to receive gender segregated bathrooms. Aaronson, noting that Tufts is in a "state of emergency," added that academic buildings would have both gender neutral and gender segregated bathrooms. All single-stall bathrooms would be open instead of gender specific. The project received unanimous approval.

The TCU Judiciary then announced that groups including Tufts Business Opp Council and the Latin American Society were recognized, while Quiz Bowl, El Tit and Animal Welfare were not. Applications from Psych Society, Pan Asian Council and InterVarsity were tabled until the spring semester.