It was business as usual at last night’s Student Union meeting, as little action was taken, few decisions were made and a handful of Union bureaucratic matters were dealt with. The passive, reactionary character of the student government organization was exemplified by a presentation the Union heard from the Environmental Student Organization about a proposed $10 Green Fee that could be added to student bills. The ESO asked the Union for its support, yet again, and the presentation closely mirrored one the Union heard in April — but failed to act upon.
Little inspiration or energy for student advocacy appears to exist in the Union right now, despite Union President Adil Yunis’s claim that the Union is an “effective student advocacy group.” Not only do students not recognize the Union on campus, but student leaders from other organizations appear to realize the Union’s involvement in important issues cannot be relied upon to bring about change. ESO President Rachel Leone discouraged the Union from forming its own environmental concerns committee earlier this semester, perhaps knowing Union committees are prone to making presentations to each other, rather than making the changes students seek.
“It has to come from the students,” Leone said of the environmental initiative last night. Leone rightly recognizes that change is derived from students, not administrators — and certainly not from proto-bureaucrats and administrative cohorts.
When Yunis, then the College of Arts and Sciences Forum president, was running for Union president, he claimed he would work to break down barriers between the student body and the Union. Thus far, Yunis and his Executive Board have instead broken down boundaries between the administration and the Union, becoming a liaison between Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore and the Union, rather than an assertive force representing student interests in administrators’ offices. At the Sept. 24 General Assembly meeting, Elmore introduced himself, and his agenda, to the Union — calling for it to focus on student compliance with the emergency-response system and illegal filesharing. The Union should be presenting its agenda to Elmore, not offering its meetings as platforms for administrative spiel.
When four presidential candidates stepped up last spring to run for Union president, there appeared to be an opportunity for fresh Union engagement with the student body. Yunis, who emphasized a personal approach to the presidency when he approached individual students during his campaign, seemed ready to rally disparate student advocacy energy and evade the bureaucratic and constitutional convolutions that have plagued past Executive Boards.
But this year’s Union has only been reactive. When confronted by student concerns of overzealous police patrols in Brookline — first reported to the BU community in The Daily Free Press — the Union responded by addressing problems in closed-door meetings with the Brookline Police Department and administrators. The Union has followed the administration’s role when responding to sexual assault concerns on campus, avoiding positions about a possible rape crisis center at BU, despite Yunis’s advocacy for creating one while he was campaigning last year. The Union did nothing to question the BU Police Department’s hushed response to an accident involving a police cruiser and a student crossing Commonwealth Avenue.
The Union must assert itself on campus. First, students need to know about its meetings. Last spring, as a candidate, Yunis told the Free Press Editorial Board he believed GA meetings should be moved from the Photonics Center to the George Sherman Union, so students might stumble upon — and stay for — a meeting there. This has not happened, despite the apparent ease of making such a move.
The Union must also set its own agenda — not one influenced by BU bigwigs — demanding accountability for issues that affect students, such as sexual safety and the astronomical cost of tuition and fees.
Last week, the student government at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst proved what a truly effective advocacy group can accomplish. Leaders organized a strike involving 600 students and teaching assistants, and garnering the support of faculty, they demanded the administration’s focus on the most pressing issues on campus — rising student fees and underrepresented minority groups. Sadly, at BU it is doubtful the Union could draw 600 students to any of its meetings, let alone convince students to join in solidarity and boycott classes to send an unambiguous message to administrators.
Despite the burdens the Union has faced this semester — unforeseen problems in Brookline, continued limited funding, a surge in sexual assault reports — its actions have been inadequate and it even fails to meet students’ low expectations for Union effectiveness. Important student issues demand a Union that is unafraid to take a strong stance on something. Union leadership has shied from too many issues, whether for fear of damaging relationships with top administrators or committing too much time to what members perceive as merely an extracurricular activity. Before the semester and the academic year slip by, the Union must gain the respect of the student body — and even that of administrators more likely to respond to passionate, rather than docile, organizations. Yunis and his cabinet must take a firm stance on the issues important to students and communicate this with the community.
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