The Tufts Community Union Senate covered committee work, supplementary funding requests for campus clubs and upcoming projects in its Veterans Day meeting, one of the last of the fall semester. The meeting began with a review of committee projects.
Senate Outreach Chair Savvy Thompson celebrated the first-year town hall, where first-year senators heard concerns from the students they represent.
“It was a great success. We had a ton of people come by … [and] we heard a lot of great new ideas,” Thompson told the assembled senators, before asking first-year senators to share what they heard.
Class of 2028 Senator Ashley Zhang reported that a major concern held by first-years is the need for more retail locations on campus that accept meal swipes.
Another issue raised during the town hall was the disparity between the costs per swipe of the first-year and sophomore meal plans.
“The rate [of the sophomore meal plan] isn’t proportional,” Class of 2028 Senator Gracie Felsenthal said. “Because it’s half the swipes [as the first-year plan] for three-fourths of the cost, which they weren’t stoked about,” she added.
Some of the other issues raised during the town hall were the need for more and higher quality information about health services on campus, affordability of services like laundry, a desire for more campus events and cheaper access to MBTA transportation services via a university subscription service like other Boston area universities.
In the Services Committee, Class of 2028 Senator Shefali Bakre reported that the order has been finalized for a snack and drink vending machine in Tisch Library, set to arrive in time for final exams this semester.
FIRST Senator Alexander Vang recapped a successful week of events for first-generation, low-income and undocumented students at Tufts. The events, which ran every weeknight last week, included everything from networking and a “Meet the FIRST Senator” session to Bingo games and a “Campus Center Takeover.”
In a conversation with the Daily after the meeting, Vang highlighted the importance of recognizing and uplifting the FIRST community’s needs and identities.
“You can’t exactly look at someone and know if they are first-generation, low-income or undocumented,” Vang said. “But just celebrating that that is an identity here at this school and that we’re here, we’re resilient, we’re persistent and that we continue to thrive despite what disadvantages we do face.”
Vang also solicited questions from senators for next Sunday’s Senate conversation with Monroe France and Alaina Macaulay, members of the Institutional Inclusive Excellence Team in the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President.
TCU Historian and Class of 2026 Senator Caroline Spahr, who is planning the event, told the Daily the conversation is one of many the Senate intends to have with university administrators. The hope for the meetings is to communicate student concerns and better understand each administrator’s role on campus.
Next, the Senate handled a slew of supplementary funding requests.
The Taiwanese Association of Students at Tufts received $4,350 from the Senate to pay for food at their annual Night Market Dance performance but did not receive an additional $700 in funding that they requested for performers’ costumes. The African Students Association received $8,057 in funding for the planning of their “Every December” event, an American take on a traditional West African celebration.
The Indian dance performance group JumboRaas received $6,300 in funding to help replace costumes damaged in a flood as they looked to return to competitions for the first time in several years. Men’s Club Soccer received $19,980 in funding for a trip to a national tournament in Texas — their request for food funding was not covered, as is customary of the TCU Treasury.
The Tufts Student Garden Club received $9,707 in funding for a new shed to be built by Tufts Facilities, while neuroscience pre-professional club NeuroNetwork received $3,251 for a networking event planned for next week.
Finally, TCU Treasurer Dhruv Sampat led senators through funding requests under $2,000 that he had already approved, a practice designed to increase the overall efficiency of Senate affairs.
As the meeting wrapped up, TCU Trustee Representative Defne Olgun updated senators about a Nov. 20 conversation between club leaders and University President Sunil Kumar. The clubs, to be invited by the Senate, will be selected from categories representing the full spectrum of campus life: advocacy groups, culture and identity groups, student government, Fenway campus clubs, pre-professional clubs and campus publications.
