Campus, News

Boston student leaders come together for conference

Student leaders from nine colleges in the Boston area met with Boston University’s Student Union members at the School of Management from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday to build a new constitution and brand for the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Conference.

Union members said their biggest concern was coming to an agreement about how to go about making changes, from the constitution draft to the “rebranding” effort and the debate of a new name.

“The first proposed constitution got voted down during the last meeting, and they wanted something new drafted for this meeting,” said Union President Howard Male, a senior in SMG and the School of Hospitality Administration. “[The change] doesn’t have to be ‘I recognize a name change or a constitution change’, but more of an ‘I recognize a change in values and goals of this organization.’”

Saturday was the first time that Union is hosting BILC, which formed in 2009, Male said. He said the previous constitution lacked the inclusiveness that the organization strives for, putting larger schools at odds with smaller colleges.

BILC is a body aimed at facilitating intercollegiate cooperation between schools in the greater Boston area and acting as a forum for student governments, according to the proposed constitution.

With the new constitution, some attendees said BILC is hoping to increase the number of schools which take part in the conferences and even the playing field.

“We want for every school to have someone involved,” said the business workshop facilitator Matthew Nacier, a student at Boston College.

The conference featured two speakers, breakfast and lunch, a tour by Assistant Dean Daryl DeLuca and an afternoon-long workshop in one of four committees, including Business, “Town-Gown,” Communications and Programming.

Speakers included BU Director of Community Relations Joe Walsh, who spoke about students getting involved in their communities and making an impact.

“The world needs more young people like you,” he said. “At my age, you get cynical and say ‘yeah, yeah, they’ll change the world alright.’”

Chris Mayer, the publisher of The Boston Globe, spoke of the changes occurring at the Globe. Mayer said change is necessary to sustain a dialogue.

BILC is working toward a partnership with the Boston Globe, Male said. Despite the hold-up as the new constitution is ratified, he said that the group will have a game plan for when everything is fleshed out.

“It’s true that we need to wait for a lot of this stuff to get passed before we can really get to work, but being proactive will allow us to be ready to go,” he said.

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