TCU Senate update

The Tufts Community Union Senate discussed the possibility of adding an International Community Representative to its ranks during its weekly meeting last night. The idea, which was proposed by freshman Senator Gauri Seth during the open forum period, was supported by several senators who argued that the international community needs a representative to help students with marginalization and cultural adjustment.

LGBT Community Representative John Kelly, a junior, announced that Women’s Center Director Steph Gauchel will serve as the interim director of the LGBT Center following the departure of current director Tom Bourdon. TCU Vice President Stephen Ruggiero, a senior, announced that Lecturer in the Department of History David Proctor will be presented with the school’s Gerard R. Gill Professor of the Year Award.

All four of the motions for funding in last night’s Allocations Board Report passed by acclamation. The Taiwanese Association of Students of Tufts was granted $800 to host a “Night Market Event;” TURBO was granted $1,531 to host its breakdance competition, TurboMania, which will take place in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room next month; Tufts Association of South Asians was granted $5,700 for its Tamasha dance team to attend a competition in South Carolina next monthand TASA’s Garba team was granted $1,600 for buying costumes.

The Senate discussed four resolutions, including one calling for the construction of a student-run polycarbonate greenhouse on campus. Two sophomore members of Tom Thumb’s Student Garden, Kate Keenan and Ali Wainer, explained that this greenhouse would help the club to expand its outreach and to operate for a greater period of the year. The resolution passed by acclamation and will be forwarded to the administration for review.

The second resolution, which was backed by senior senators Andrew Hunter, Stephen Ruggiero and John Rodli, junior senator Gordon Silverman and freshman senator Constantin Weiss, called for the creation of a student-run pub on campus. The resolution states that such a pub would help develop a communal atmosphere among the student body and create job opportunities for students. This resolution passed by a 23-1-1 vote.

“This has been a really great weekend for the pub project,” Hunter said. “I’m just looking forward to bringing all of this to the administration.”

The third resolution encourages the school to make course evaluation data public and accessible to students. Bryson Wong, a freshman senator and author of the resolution, argued that such a system would be a more verifiable and institutionalized alternative to existing websites. The senate voted 23-1-1 in support of the resolution.

“I think it’d be really beneficial for the faculty, in creating better participation rates for them, and for the students, in helping them choose their classes,” Wong said.

The final resolution of the evening called for “the creation of an Individual Support Fund for members of officially recognized student groups at Tufts University.” The resolution was drafted by executive board members Thibodeau, Ruggiero and TCU treasurer Adam Kochman.

The Fund would give certain students on financial aid the opportunity to apply for funding to cover personal contributions required by Senate in relation to student group excursions off campus. The authors of the resolution hope for a successful run of the pilot program so that the eligibility requirements and scope of the Fund will be expanded to a greater number of students in the future. The Senate upheld this resolution by acclamation.

“We think this promotes equity in the long run and efficiency in terms of how the Senate runs,” Kochman, a sophomore, said.

Thibodeau described the meeting as successful and “really productive.”

“We had a lot of great conversations and we passed some great resolutions,” Thibodeau said of the meeting. “It’s the culmination of all these different people’s projects.”