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School spirit, community as emphasis for TeamBU

Members of the TeamBU Student Government slate Timothy Geraghty (ENG '16), Austin Kruger (SMG '16), Gabriela Medeiros (SMG '16) and Matt Sgrignari (SMG '17) speak at a slate debate in the George Sherman Union Thursday. PHOTO BY ALEX MASSET/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Members of the TeamBU Student Government slate Timothy Geraghty (ENG ’16), Austin Kruger (SMG ’16), Gabriela Medeiros (SMG ’16) and Matt Sgrignari (SMG ’17) speak at a slate debate in the George Sherman Union Thursday. PHOTO BY ALEX MASSET/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

In order to develop a cohesive community and school spirit, Boston University Student Government slate TeamBU seeks to change the culture of SG and how it advocates for students’ needs.

TeamBU is comprised of Austin Kruger, Gabriela Medeiros, Matt Sgrignari and Tim Geraghty.

Kruger, the executive presidential candidate of TeamBU, said one of the slate’s main focuses is to unite different groups in the community and have them collaborate “as a team.”

“We want to fundamentally change student government into something that’s a resource for students,” said Kruger, a junior in the School of Management. “We’re trying to change the culture of student government through more teamwork, better support and becoming advocates. We’re trying to break down the barriers. We know it’s time for these changes.”

Medeiros, who is running for vice president of finance, said she wants to improve communication across campus, which will help increase school spirit.

“Not a lot of people have a strong sense of pride about this being a great school,” said Medeiros, a junior in SMG. “A lot of that is because they feel so isolated in the organizations that they’re a part of, and if we can create a sense of communication in different organizations so that people are working together, their sense of school spirit will increase. That’s the goal.”

Sgrignari, candidate for executive vice president, said he is passionate about bringing school spirit to the forefront.

“School spirit has never been a big priority for student government,” said Sgrignari, a sophomore in SMG. “Student government has always been kind of by itself, passing these bills and then the after thought is planning a few big events and trying to get kids to come to them. We want to make school spirit our priority and develop it and then use it to get people communicating and working together.”

TeamBU looks to create a council of student organization presidents that will meet monthly to discuss common issues and potential solutions, Medeiros said.

“If at that president’s council, we have X amount of presidents say that they’re totally behind an idea, and then we go to administration with it and are able to say that it’s not just Senate behind the idea, but we have the support of many student organization leaders … we know that we’re being more representative of the student body and it gives us more leverage,” she said.

Geraghty, TeamBU’s candidate for vice president of internal affairs, said the slate’s goals were generated from conversations members had with students.

“We have a road map from talking to various leaders across campus,” said Geraghty, a junior in the College of Engineering. “Our policies are there because the leaders that we talked to kept saying the same things over and over again. They reiterated that they wanted to see these changes and from talking to them, we were able to lock this plan down.”

TeamBU seeks to solve problems by starting at their sources, Geraghty said.

“In mechanical engineering, there’s this phrase that the squeaky gear gets the oil, meaning that the loudest problems are the ones that get fixed first,” he said. “For TeamBU, that’s not the only way of addressing problems. We need to address problems at their root.”

Although not everyone on the TeamBU slate has prior experience in Student Government, each slate member brings unique leadership experience to the table, Kruger said. This dynamic will set TeamBU apart from the competition, he said.

“We all represent different aspects of BU itself, whether it’s Athletics or Finance Club or Greek life or the RA system,” he said. “Having those diverse experiences are going to help us accomplish those goals. One of the problems we’re trying to address is bringing new people into Student Government. We’re trying to change up the system in order to make a change from the past.”

Medeiros said TeamBU could transform SG into something more accessible and effective.

“Student government should be a resource for students and for organizations, but that’s not the case right now,” she said. “People don’t know who’s involved in Student Government or what they can do for them. What’s the point if people aren’t using Student Government as a resource?  We want to meet students halfway and ask what we can do for you, which isn’t something that necessarily happens.”

Voting for the Student Government Executive Board begins March 30 and will close on April 6. Results of the election will be announced on April 8. 

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