Boston University’s Student Government is eager to begin a productive semester on campus after working to promote agendas from last year, members said.
“[This summer] we’ve been working hard on tackling issues like 24-hour study space, which we’ve made a huge landmark in,” said SG President Dexter McCoy. “We’ll be offering our first 24-hour study space in the closed dining hall in Shelton [Hall].”
The 24-hour study space opened Tuesday, McCoy said.
He said SG is working this semester on developing other similar spaces at various locations in East Campus and West Campus.
“Student Government has been doing a lot of work to prep for the year,” McCoy, a College of Communication junior, said.
McCoy said one of the first and simplest issues addressed was a name change from “Student Union” to “Student Government,” which will be officially voted on at the first meeting on Sept. 17.
In the interim, members have been referring to themselves by the new name, he said.
SG offered a moving service for BU summer staff, who moved from South Campus to their dormitories before the beginning of the semester, McCoy said.
“That was very successful and we were able to help a lot of students and they really appreciated that,” he said.
School of Management junior Caitlin Seele, advocacy committee chair, said she has seen progress over the summer with gender-neutral housing.
“It’s been going really well over the summer and a lot of headway has been made with it,” Seele. who was also last year’s SMG senator, said. “A lot of students at BU really show a lot of interest in it, and showed that they were going to respect it.”
Last spring, SG successfully created and officially proposal based on student surveys and submitted it to BU administration.
Administrators are working with a committee to discuss and research different gender-neutral housing options, Seele said.
“All signs are very bright for coming to campus very soon,” she said.
McCoy said in this upcoming semester, there will be structural changes to SG.
“One of the biggest things that we have done is forming a central nucleus of leadership here on campus, so I now have what’s called a president’s council where heads of various student and administrative departments sit on,” he said. “We meet regularly to correspond with each other.”
McCoy said a goal of SG this semester is to bring together various student leaders from across campus under one voice for common issues.
“Our [general] focus will be of course on the entire student body,” he said, “but we’ll be focusing on tapping into and accessing our student leaders population [as well].”
McCoy said SG officials will be doing a student ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Center for Student Services to kick off the Commonwealth Avenue Fair Sept. 7.
“I’m really excited to in the next month or so really strengthen the stature of Student Government on campus as a representative body,” he said.
McCoy said there will be some turnover in the SG body this semester based on senatorial elections held by residence halls and schools.
Cherice Hunt, director of communication for SG and COM junior, said another specific goal for the semester was to get incoming students more involved.
“The best way to get involved we be to try and influence the university,” she said.
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