When sitting down and thinking about what matters most to us when it comes to the next Student Government executive board, a few things come to mind: transparency, reliability, dedication, diversity and concern for our safety as Boston University students. And honestly, after hearing from each slate about their ideas and goals, we feel that all three slates running for positions within student government — BUtiful Dreamers, True BU and TeamBU — represent all of those values.
But when it comes down to voting, students must determine who will be best at delivering upon these values and turning words into actions. And while all three slates had strong ideas for the student body and a clear passion for SG, The Daily Free Press found the True BU slate to be the most practical and hands-on in addressing its plans.
The slate is made up of Andrew Cho, a College of Arts and Sciences junior running for president; Melesilika Finau, a CAS sophomore running for executive vice president; Marwa Sayed, a CAS sophomore running for vice president of internal affairs; and Kimberly Barzola, a CAS sophomore running for vice president of finance.
Three of the four True BU slate members have past SG experience. Cho has been involved with SG since his freshman year and was president of the Warren Towers Residence Hall Association for two years. He represented the dorm in the Senate and is currently serving as the president of the Overarching Executive Council.
Sayed is part of Kilachand Hall’s RHA, Finau is senator for the RHA for Danielsen Hall and Cluster and Barzola is an active member of BU’s Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism.
This sparkling resume and the fact that these people already have close connections to SG and therefore know how the system works, makes for an impressively stocked slate. It’s these things, coupled with the diversity in their extracurricular activities that makes us confident that True BU is the best slate for the job. But above all else, it’s True BU’s sense of relatability that really makes them stand out.
We have to note before we go on that our endorsement of True BU has nothing to do with last year’s FreeP endorsement of the True BU slate. In fact, the concept of slate recognition and a carry-over from one year to the next is one of the only pieces of True BU’s campaign that makes us uncomfortable. As always, we choose our endorsed slate based on the goals of the slate’s individuals. While we feel True BU’s campaign could have been strong without the True BU name continuation, we also can’t ignore the strength it possesses and the slate’s clear ability to change BU for the better.
This isn’t to say the other two slates didn’t also have their distinct advantages. BUtiful Dreamers also did a great job with relating to students. We appreciate the fact that they’re not already part of SG. Their slate bridges the gap between the long-time SG students and the rest of the student body.
BUtiful Dreamers is also clearly dedicated to the four principal initiatives on their slate, with several plans already in the works and a dedication to not making large-scale empty promises upon running their campaign. Their initiatives make their slate realistic. Despite their lack of SG experience, they have an understanding of the difficulties that come with passing substantial legislation. They seem to get it. However, we’re not sure if the four initiatives they chose are the most hard-hitting topics at BU. BUtiful Dreamers without a doubt had the clearest plan of action, but they didn’t necessarily line up with what students need most.
TeamBU had broader goals for the student body, many of which were similar to True BU’s, such as safety for those who live off-campus and better transportation. However, True BU had a stronger grasp on where to begin when attempting to fix those problems, whereas TeamBU had big ideas, but a lack of detailed plans.
When it came to transparency, TeamBU dominated in the way they spoke about the Allocations Board and their plans for getting students involved. With a plan to increase diversity among the student representatives, TeamBU made their plans clear: listen to the student body and fight for their needs.
However, True BU had a different kind of passion for including students in SG, focusing not only on those who will represent student groups within the SG system, but also on those who have never (and may never) step foot in a Senate meeting. It’s clear that all three slates would be strong leaders for the student body voice if elected, but True BU instead wants to help students find their own voice, a plan that makes their slate stand out among the rest.
Transparency has not only been a problem between SG and the student body, but also between students and the BU administration. True BU came to the table with a plan to alleviate this distance: add a seat at the table for a student ambassador at Board of Trustees meetings. This concept is not something unique to True BU. Countless other schools, including Cornell University and every school within the University of Massachusetts system, have a student represented on the Board of Trustees. It’s just never been implemented at BU, causing a divide between administrative actions and student involvement.
True BU acknowledged that other SG slates have tried and failed to enact this in the past, but when asked how they will turn these words into actions, they told us simply, “We’re not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.”
This is a big theme in True BU’s slate: they’re not taking “no” for an answer. They are committed to getting things done and have a serious stake in ensuring that all 16,000 students are well represented, not just because it’s their job, but because they really care.
