TCU Senate holds first meeting of the semester

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate convened Sunday for the first time this semester as an entire body in the Sophia Gordon Hall Multipurpose Room.

After beginning with roll call attendance, Director of the Office of Campus Life Joe Golia, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Chris Rossi, Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Raymond Ou and Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon introduced themselves to the TCU Senate and explained their roles at Tufts and how their roles pertain to the Senate.

TCU Senate Vice President Shai Slotky, a senior, then told everyone who came to the Senate makeup-retreat to let him know what committees they want to be on, before moving into committee reports.

Cultural, Ethnicity and Community Affairs (CECA) Committee Chair Benya Kraus discussed the upcoming Indigenous People's Day celebration on Indigenous People's Day (Oct. 10) on the Academic Quad from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Afterward, Women's Community Representative Walae Hayek proposed the Cultural Competency Project for approval, which mandates cultural competency training for faculty and staff at Tufts. Hayek, a junior, received project approval.

Kraus, a junior, then gave a section update which included the 2016 Fall Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism and Diaspora (RCD) Workshop: Indigenous Studies, Colonialism and the University, which will be held on Oct. 14 at 12 p.m. in Sophia Gordon Hall, and will include panel sessions with indigenous and tribal leaders on campus.

After an icebreaker, TCU Elections Commission Chair Ania Ruiz conducted elections for four open seats on ALBO -- two reserved for first-year senators and two that any senator could run for.

Finn McGarghan and Shannon Lee won the seats reserved for first-year senators, and TCU Senate Administration and Policy Chair senior Sylvia Ofoma and Parlimentarial sophomore Adam Rapfogel won the two seats open to any senator.

ALBO then met with Leaverton, a sophomore, and TCU Senate Associate Treasurer and ALBO member Emily Sim, also a sophomore, where they elected McGarghan as their assistant treasurer.

After that, the Senate moved into resolutions. TCU Senate Historian junior Rati Srinivasan read aloud the first resolution: "S.16-6 A Resolution Calling for Tufts University to Oppose Charter School Expansion in Massachusetts." This was followed by officer speak, a question-and-answer period, a debate and a roll call vote in which the resolution passed 26-1.

The same process was repeated for "S.16-7 A Resolution Calling for Tufts University to Support the Movement for Indigenous People's Day Boston" without a debate. A vote was held instead and the resolution passed 25-0-1.

Voting was then conducted over the past week's ALBO student group allocation recommendations during the treasury section of the meeting. TCU Senate passed ALBO's recommendations of $3,260 to Students for Justice in Palestine, $2,572.26 to Tufts Quidditch, $5,797.45 to ALLIES, $218.23 to Comedy Collective, $366 to J Street U and $1,236 to oSTEM.

Srinivasan reminded senators of the Senate Meet and Greet on Oct. 7 from 3-5 p.m. in the Remis Sculpture Court and Student Outreach Committee Chair Jacqueline Chen via Srinivasan reminded them of the Student Leadership Dinner Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. at 51 Winthrop St.

Srinivasan then reviewed the Attendance and Commitment Accountability Policy. The only change from last year's policy is the reinstatement of a concrete number of unexcused absences which can subject a senator to impeachment. Excused absences are not subject to this number. The policy passed by acclamation.

TCU President senior Gauri Seth then made several announcements before Committee on Student Life Co-chair Tafari Duncan and TCU Judiciary Chair Anna Weissman introduced themselves and their respective bodies' roles within senate.

The meeting concluded with a 45 minute closed session that included Good and Welfare.