“Building BU’s community is one of our primary missions,” said Student Union President Howard Male at the first Union senate meeting on Monday night.
Union members discussed its new discretionary funds, as well as constitutional rulings and policy goals at the first senate meeting.
The judicial commission allotted $1,000 to the executive board for discretionary expenditures.
“We’ve ruled in favor of allowing the e-board to spend a predetermined amount of money which they didn’t have permission to do before,” said College of Arts and Sciences senior Jared Kleiman, a senator of the Judicial Commission. “This should help the Union become more efficient to have a lasting effect because this $1,000 basically comes with as much oversight as possible to still get the job done.”
Male, a senior in the School of Management and the School of Hospitality Administration, announced that BU will host this semester’s Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council in November. Leaders from universities in the greater Boston region will share practices and talk about relationships between the town and students.
“That is something we are excited about because it allows us to hear what other schools are doing,” Male said.
The commission also ruled that the Union president may exert greater authority in committee affairs, particularly when it comes to appointing members to positions. While last year’s president Arthur Emma, a CAS graduate, appointed a new member last year, the ruling explicitly confirms this presidential power.
Director of City Affairs James Boggie, a senior in CAS, said the issue arose last year when the chair of a committee resigned, prompting former president Emma to nominate a replacement.
“The ruling is a clarification of the constitution, not a change,” Boggie said.
Kleiman supported his fellow member of the judicial commission, saying it was the only way “without altering the constitution to get the job done.”
“We currently allow the president to fill any position that is vacant or not being properly filled,” Kleiman said. “Because the president is an official member of all Union committees, the president appointed a new chairperson and this was a way we found to justify it.”
Union also elected a new cabinet, which includes the chairs and directors for all committees.
The candidates discussed issues on campus, such as waste management, stronger connections with leaders of student groups and the allotment of Union funds.
Male closed the meeting with an address about Union priorities, identifying issues such as smoking on campus, 24-hour study spaces, professional development centers and community-building goals.
“I personally don’t enjoy walking past smoke, but I don’t know if BU wants to go in the direction of mandating no smoking on campus,” Male said. “Regardless, we want to make sure that BU is full of choices for all of us.”
The goal of a stronger campus-wide community has been an issue much discussed by Male during Build BU’s campaign last year and his address at matriculation.
“We’re really charging the directors of social affairs this year,” Male said. “Whether it be Greek life, big groups or small groups, we want to make sure we’re proactively reaching out to them.”
Union Secretary Sophie Miller, a CAS sophomore, ended the meeting with encouraging words for all the freshmen who attended and are considering participating in the Union.
“I strongly urge all of you to get involved with this organization and to ensure that students are involved in all decisions made on campus,” she said.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
