For the first time, Boston University’s Student Union will amend its constitution to include language granting the Student Elections Commission independence in running elections for student representative positions around campus.
In its first General Assembly meeting of the semester Monday in the Photonics Center, attended by about 30 students, Union discussed the amendment as well as an upcoming initiative aimed at examining the relationship between Union and college governments and opening the door to increased student understanding of Union.’
Union’s 28 to one vote with one abstention in favor of the SEC amendment recognizes the SEC as a separate body that applies to the Dean of Students for its own funding, meaning Union will not be involved in funding its own elections from its budget, Union President James Sappenfield said during the debate before the vote.
‘I do believe the goal of this amendment is unbiased elections,’ Sappenfield, a College of Arts and Sciences and School of Management senior, said.
The process for the change first began in October when SEC Chairman Jeff Maynard co-wrote the first draft of the amendment with Vice Chairwoman Rachel Katz and Union Residence Life Committee Chairman Jared Kleiman, who was the only Union sponsor of the amendment.
‘It’s going to make it so that the SEC is in charge of running the election commission,’ Maynard, a CAS senior, said. ‘We’ve always come to Union to request money.’
Maynard said he hopes the change will ease the election demand on the Union budget and increase impartiality in elections.
‘We’re already a separate body from the Student Union, it’s just going to solidify that,’ he said.
Kleiman, a CAS sophomore, said the amendment has taken longer than usual to come to a final vote as Union and the SEC have debated the wording. He said he hopes eventually the SEC can also become involved in dorm elections where students are more familiar with the efforts of student governments.
‘The relationship between our groups . . . has always been unclear,’ Kleiman said. ‘People don’t know who we are. They don’t know what we do.’
Frank Pobutikiewicz, the only dissenting voter and acting proxy for the political consortium, said he objected to election funding coming from the Dean of Students.
But Maynard said the money will flow through the Dean of Students no matter what.
‘Student Union gets their money from the DoS,’ Maynard said. ‘There’s no real way to get around them.’
Pobutikiewicz said after the debate that student government has been ineffective after being dividied into Programming Council, Allocations Board and Union.
‘I feel as though instead of working with each other . . . we have split,’ Pobutikiewicz, an SMG and CAS senior, said.
But Kleiman said he thinks the process of the amendment has resulted in the best possible situation for elections.
‘Frank has legitimate concerns, but we took months to negotiate this,’ he said. ‘I think this is the fairest result we’re going to get.’
College of General Studies freshman voting representative Kimmy Hammett said she was glad to see the amendment pass.
‘I think it’s a good thing,’ she said. ‘It’s something that should be done.’
Maynard said he is happy to have the amendment passed in time for election season in February.
‘I’m very pleased,’ he said. ‘Now the SEC can focus our full attention on the elections.’
In its first initiative of the night, Union also elected two members, Hammett and SMG representative and sophomore Joe Nangle, to be part of the effort to understand students’ opinions and knowledge about government in a three month campaign that will culminate in March with reports to administration officials and Union.
‘I’m excited that I’m putting myself in this position at this age,’ Hammett said.
