Students voting for presidential candidates on Monday will have the option of voting for two referenda and one "non-binding referendum question" in addition to their preferred presidential candidates.
The two referenda include proposals to change the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Constitution's nondiscrimination policy and to add a fifth member to the Elections Committee (ECOM). The non-binding question is designed to gauge student opinion on the possibility of the Senate investing $300,000 of the recovered funds in the university's endowment.
The first referendum, if passed, would broaden the Constitution's nondiscrimination policy to include the phrase "gender identity and expression." Outgoing Senator Ryan Heman, who co-chaired the Senate's Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs Committee this year, submitted the resolution.
Heman said that there exists a major difference in the wording between the rules governing TCU-sponsored organizations and the university's nondiscrimination policy, which already includes wording similar to that in Heman's proposal.
"I think that it kind of goes unnoticed that there are gender expression and identity issues in the Tufts community," said Heman, the outgoing co-coordinator of the Queer-Straight Alliance. He added, though, that the Constitution's nondiscrimination policy still lags behind university policy in other ways.
The second referendum calls for the addition of a fifth member to ECOM. In addition to keeping all TCU election records, a new ECOM historian would help the committee abide by its constitutional duties and facilitate discussion between ECOM, the TCU Judiciary, Senate and the wider student body.
Though ECOM currently has four members, the committee has had five in the past. The number of members was reduced three years ago, according to ECOM Chair Adam Weldai.
"When there are extraordinary circumstances, like the ones we've seen over the past month, it really benefits the entire TCU to have an effective body as their elections committee," said Weldai, a senior, referring to two voided freshman elections earlier this month. "I think having four people is not enough; that fifth member really makes a difference."
Meanwhile, the non-binding ballot question aims to evaluate student opinion regarding the investment of $300,000 of the recovered funds in an endowment fund that will go toward student activities. Submitted by outgoing TCU Treasurer Matt Shapanka, the non-binding question would solicit the student body's position on whether TCU Treasury should place the money in the university's endowment. The alternative would be to place it in certificates of deposit, according to Shapanka.
Some senators have expressed hesitation toward investing the money in the university's endowment when trustees have not expanded the power of students to give input on how the university should invest its money.
So far, the Senate has voted twice in support of a special committee that a group of students started with the goal of exerting more influence over the companies in which Tufts invests its money, calling for increased transparency in the Tufts endowment.
Shapanka, a senior, added, however, that the decision to invest in the university's endowment may have its advantages.
"It's a great opportunity for the Senate to create a permanent revenue source outside of the Student Activities Fund that they can use to benefit the Tufts community forever," Shapanka said.
He also highlighted the fact that the Senate will benefit from the expertise of Tufts' financial administration.
"Despite the fact that they're not transparent, they've done extraordinarily well in the past few years," he said.
Referenda often appear on student body-wide votes, and can be submitted by any three undergraduates. The TCU Judiciary must approve referendum language for fairness of wording, and the Committee on Student Life must ensure that referenda fall in line with university policy and state and federal laws. Two hundred-fifty undergraduates must also sign a petition in support of each referendum.
