The Tufts Community Union Senate met with the Tufts University Social Collective to brainstorm project ideas and discuss club supplementary funding during their Sunday meeting.
When the final request was adjudicated, junior Dhruv Sampat, senator and TCU treasurer, reported the Senate had allocated $300,000 in supplementary funds to date this semester, compared with $150,000 at the same time last semester, making this semester’s treasury spending the highest in its 50-year history.
After getting used to some new accommodations, the senators welcomed in members of the TUSC for a wide-ranging conversation about student life on campus.
“We are the event-planning arm of Tufts,” said senior and executive coordinator of TUSC, Thomas Grant. The group puts on 60–75 events per year for the entire undergraduate student body, explained Grant, ranging from smaller events lasting a few hours to all-hands-on-deck events like the end of the year Spring Fling.
Despite the coordination, the group is student-led, with the team of roughly 24 students doing work done by full-time employees at other schools, Grant told the Senate.
As for the Spring Fling-based question on everyone’s minds, the TUSC representatives remained tight-lipped.
“Good,” was all Grant said when playfully asked by TCU President Joel Omolade for one word about the headlining artist of the famous end-of-year concert. When pressed, he expressed optimism but gave nothing away.
“It’s a very strong lineup,” he said. “It’s the lineup that I’m — across all three artists — the most excited for since I’ve been at Tufts,”
TUSC Marketing Executive Coordinator Mikayla Cole emphasized the wide range of events TUSC holds, from signature events like Spring Fling or Tuftonia’s Day to smaller events like giveaways or wellness-based events. The ideas for these smaller events are continuously generated by six subcommittees of student TUSC members focused on different types of possible events on campus.
Next, TCU Vice President Rhoda Edwards led the senators in a project brainstorming session, where TCU senators broke off into groups.
“We’re primarily tasked with identifying student needs and turning them into actionable projects that we can work on and that help to benefit the entire student body,” Edwards said.
Junior Senator Arman Tendulkar’s group proposed expanding the Tufts food pantry. There is currently one food pantry behind Dewick; they proposed adding more locations and filling them with food paid for by Tufts in some form, not just with student donations.
Sampat proposed a discussion event between Greek life, administration and student representatives focused on revitalizing Greek life on campus. He cited University regulations — including one where organizations are not allowed to throw parties within a month of the start of the semester — as ones he would like to discuss with the administration in an effort to revitalize Greek life at Tufts.
Senators discussed a number of potential dining improvements, including bringing the energy drink Celsius back to Hodgdon, a potential speed dating event for Tufts along the lines of “Love Island” and upgrading available games in the campus center. Edwards collected ideas at the end of the brainstorming session to further facilitate the ideas presented.
Next, Edwards recapped the Africana Center’s weeklong takeover of the Campus Center. Featured events included an open-microphone night, mindfulness workshops and specialty drinks.
“I think it’s just important for us to be together during these trying times,” Edwards told the Daily after the meeting. “Especially when there are attacks on DEI from all sides.”
Sampat then led the group through the night’s supplementary funding requests.
Model UN received $8,035 in funding for airfare to and from two different upcoming conferences. The Women’s Club Volleyball team received $4,400 in funds to prepare for the upcoming club volleyball nationals, including transportation and uniform replacements.
The Middle East Research Group received $2,600 in funds for a virtual reality exhibition showing how the landscape in Gaza has changed over the past five years. Men’s Club Volleyball received $4,080 to prepare for volleyball nationals, including flights, hotels and transportation.
Project Share, a heath accessibility advocacy club, received $415 in additional funds. Club Tennis received $8,096 in funding for travel and lodging for their upcoming national tournament.
Breakdancing club TURBO received $4,875 which was allocated for their yearly Breakin’ Jam, hosted in the Interfaith Center.
Sampat stressed this didn’t mean clubs needed to cut back spending, but encouraged senators to be more “cognizant” of how supplementary funding is spent as the spending gets closer to the supplementary funding limit allocated for the semester.
