The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate last night met for the first time as a full present body, including all recently elected freshman senators and Trustee Representatives.
The meeting opened with guest appearances from Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman and Director of the Office for Campus Life Joe Golia, who described their roles on the Hill and their relationships with the Senate. Reitman detailed changes to university policy in recent years that have been initiated within the Senate, including the overhaul of the university's policy on sexual assault and the language that appears in safety alerts sent to the student body.
Reitman also went into detail about several ongoing situations involving the participation of TCU governmental bodies. He announced that the Office of Equal Opportunity has hired an external service to investigate allegations that Tufts students shouted out inappropriate or offensive comments at a Sept. 21 Tufts women's volleyball game.
The Senate held an internal election to fill three seats on the body's Allocations Board (ALBO), which is headed by TCU Treasurer Matthew Roy and works with the heads of student groups to allocate funding for student groups.
Freshmen Amy Kim and Adam Kochman won the two seats open to senators in the Class of 2016. Darien Headen, a sophomore, won a seat that was that was left open to the full body when Yihao Li, a junior senator, resigned Sept. 16.
TCU Senate President Wyatt Cadley delivered the State of the Senate report, in which he spoke of ways that bureaucratic inadequacies at Tufts have failed students and voiced his commitment to fixing them.
"Our peers deserve a powerful voice to advocate on their behalf," Cadley said.
