The Tufts Community Union Senate confirmed that the Class of 2024 Prom will take place in April and heard supplementary funding requests in a virtual meeting on Sunday night.
TCU President Amma Agyei opened the meeting by suggesting that the Senate host a leadership dinner, where representatives from every student organization on campus come together to share information and ideas at a sit-down meal.
Agyei, a senior, hopes the dinner will promote communication across different groups and foster connections between the Senate and campus organizations. The body discussed whether the dinner should be casual or formal, given the possibility that a formal dinner could be a barrier to entry for students without formal clothes. They decided that formal attire should be optional at the event and agreed to discuss it in greater detail at a future meeting.
Next, TCU Treasurer Elizabeth Hom introduced two supplementary funding requests.
The Tufts Economics Society requested $150 to pay an engineer to update their website and migrate it to the Tufts.edu domain. The club hopes to save money by canceling their Wix subscription. Nine members of the Allocations Board voted to approve the request, with none opposed and none abstaining. The request passed the entire Senate body by acclamation.
Tufts PULSE requested $4,624 to send 13 dancers to a competition in February. The competition, which was initially supposed to be held in person, was recently moved online. PULSE requested $500 to rent out Cohen Auditorium for two days so that they can film their performance, $1,087 to refund the plane tickets they bought to Houston, $1,102 for new costumes, $1,900 for hotel lodging to watch the competition and $35 for prop expenses.ALBO recommended that TCU fund $2,615 of their request, declining to fund the hotel lodging. The request passed ALBO with nine ALBO members voting in favor, none opposed and none abstaining. The request passed the entire Senate body by acclamation.
TCU Diversity Officer Jaden Pena then discussed a new opening on TCU Senate for a senator who will represent and liaise with the Indigenous Peoples' Center.Pena, who is a junior, plans to start the search process within the next two weeks.
Pena also mentioned that Dr. Ellise LaMotte, interim director of the Center for STEM Diversity, had proposed that the CSD have a corresponding senator position on TCU Senate. According to Pena, the Senate's executive board does not support the request, since it would set a precedent for other academic programs requesting representation on TCU Senate.
Trustee representative Carolina Olea Lezama then updated the body on last week's trustee meeting, where University President Anthony Monaco gave updates on the university's mental health task force and the trustees made recommendations on how to help the Career Center better support different identities.
During the senate's the open forum, TCU Historian and Class of 2024 Senator MarianaJaner-Agrelot discussed an article she is writing for The Observer advocating for the continuation of exceptional pass/fail this semester. She hopes Tufts will heed the argument she makes in her article.
Services Committee Chair and Class of 2024 Senator Arielle Galinsky confirmed that the Class of 2024Prom will happen on April 8 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. She announced that the contract with the venue will be signed this week, and that the prom planning committee will meet soon. Janer-Agrelot suggested that a clothing drive for formal wear would be useful to help students source affordable clothing for the event.
