TCU Senate Update

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate held its first meeting of the academic year last night, which began with with a brief introduction by TCU President Brian Tesser.

Tesser, a senior, talked about the upcoming elections for first-year senators and the trustee representatives, which will take place on Sept. 30. According to Tesser, the Senate will elect seven first-year senators and three trustee representatives.

Tesser, who was studying abroad last semester, encouraged the Senate to be vocal and prepared to challenge ideas during meetings. He also pushed for an inclusive environment that allows for multiple perspectives.

After a brief update from TCU Vice President Gauri Seth, a junior, sophomore Diversity & Community Affairs (DCA) Officer Anna Del Castillo, briefly discussed the five community representative positions that will also be up for elections. According to Castillo, the five open positions include representatives for the Asian American community, the Latino community, the Africana community, the women’s community and the LGBTQ community.

Following an introduction by senior TCU Parliamentarian Sam Berzok,  TCU Treasurer Shai Slotky, took the floor to explain changes made to the Treasury Procedures Manual (TPM), revealing that this year's manual will be the most extensive to date.

According to Slotky, many of the changes are intended to hold people more accountable in their respective positions by rewording the descriptions of various senators’ roles and responsibilities.

Slotky also explained the changes made to travel funds. After much criticism and controversy last year over the allocation of travel funds, the Senate decided to fund non-competitive groups for a maximum of two trips.

According to Slotky, members of an organization who are on financial aid or are receiving assistance from the Student Support Fund may also receive up to $100 for travel. Student groups will have certain radii within which they may travel, including places such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC and the greater Boston area, although some exceptions can be made.

The last noteworthy change that Slotky described was the new cap of $5,000 for speaker programs and events that student groups host. According to Slotky, groups will still receive Senate funding, but will have to rely on other sources for funding as well.

After all the changes to the TPM were explained, the Senate voted to pass the entire manual for the 2015-16 year by acclimation.

The meeting concluded with a brief update from TCU Chair of the Student Outreach Committee Benya Kraus, a sophomore, who brought up the new Two Minute Tuesday initiative. According to Kraus, the Senate will recap its meetings and update the student body via two-minute videos every Tuesday. This new initiative is an attempt to foster more transparency between Senate and the student body, Kraus said.