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All four candidates from True BU, one of three slates that ran in the 2015 Boston University Student Government elections, won positions on SG’s Executive Board for the 2015-16 academic year, the Student Elections Commission announced Wednesday.
True BU slate members earned more than 1,000 votes each and won an average of 49.65 percent of the total vote over candidates from the TeamBU and BUtiful Dreamers slates running for the same positions.
Executive President-elect Andrew Cho said he is extremely grateful and thankful for the opportunity the slate now has to serve the student body.
“I’m really thankful for this campaign process because we’ve been able to make so many connections,” said Cho, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “This speaks that we really want to embody and carry on True BU values, and it’s not about one of us individually, but the people and community that we represent.”
About 40 campaign staff members from all three slates and supporters came to the announcement dinner held in the George Sherman Union Backcourt on Wednesday.
Marwa Sayed, the vice president of internal affairs-elect, said she felt “speechless and discombobulated” about the vote and that she wants to live up to students’ hopes for her slate.
“It’s really great to connect with students. I got so many good ideas,” said Sayed, a sophomore in CAS. “I really feel now we can realize our expectations.”
Nicole Simons, a candidate for executive president under the BUtiful Dreamers slate, said she wishes True BU the best.
“Neither of the losing slates are surprised,” said Simons, a junior in CAS. “We’re very happy for them, and it was a very fun election.”
Other members from the TeamBU and BUtiful Dreamers slates left promptly following the conclusion of the announcement dinner and were not available for comment.
The fossil fuel referendum question, asking students whether or not they would be in favor of the BU Board of Trustees divesting from fossil fuel companies, passed with approximately 75 percent of the vote in support of divestment.
Claire Richer, president of Students For a Just and Stable Future, said she is excited to know that most BU students support fossil fuel divestment.
“I hope that it has a positive impact on the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing and that they [the committee] take into account students’ feelings on this,” said Richer, a senior in CAS. “Just publicizing it, spreading the message, making sure people know what divestment is.”
Vice President of Finance-elect Kimberly Barzola said the slate’s campaign process embodied the meaning of True BU.
“The whole process of canvassing, going out and talking one-on-one with people, was the most influential and important part of our whole campaign,” said Barzola, a sophomore in CAS. “It was really great that we were able to do that through the campaign process, and we can actually take action on it now that we’re E-Board.”
Barzola said one of the initiatives she will focus on is putting a student representative on the Board of Trustees, a proposal on which she has already started working.
Cho said the slate will seek feedback from students before the 2014-15 school year ends and will look to be on campus as much as possible over the summer.
“We definitely want to hold a meeting with all interested students [and] all the leaders on campus before the semester’s out to really ask them to prioritize the agenda for us so that we can tackle the issues that really matter most,” he said.
Melesilika Finau, the executive vice president-elect, said she aims to create a more welcoming atmosphere within SG.
“I just hope to create the environment that really fosters connection and community in SG to make sure everyone feels welcome and that they can talk to us about whatever’s needed,” said Finau, a sophomore in CAS.
SEC Chairman Spencer Hilton said the election season was very stressful but successful.
“All the candidates were very respectful. We [didn’t] have to police them,” said Hilton, a junior in the Questrom School of Business. “As for the referendum, it was very interesting to see how the students voted because we haven’t had a referendum in over 30 years.”
While all three slates received violations points — TeamBU received 200 points, True BU received 350 points and BUtiful Dreamers received 300 points — Hilton said the violations did not “change any result of the election.”
Sam Worley, a senior in CAS, attended the announcement dinner and said he is happy with the “fair” results of the SG election.
“In the future, I’d love to see more slates and more involvement,” he said. “Students need to understand that they can have an impact like being part of SG or even running. Those are what’s important.”
