Boston University Student Government confirmed Sen. Ezra Bale as chair of the COVID-19 University Oversight Committee in a short meeting streamed live on YouTube Monday night.
CUOC was confirmed as an ad hoc committee last week with goals to conduct research and report updates on BU’s response to COVID-19. The committee confirmation passed with 32 out of 43 senators present at the Nov. 16 meeting.
Bale, a senior in the College of Communication, offered himself as chair because of his involvement in the committee’s founding.
“The CUOC, in a manner of speaking, is my brainchild that is being raised and cared for by myself and my fellow committee members,” Bale said. “I would like to continue leading this committee in its growth, development and initiatives.”
The senators who helped Bale are Vivian Dai, Hessann Farooqi, Savannah Majarwitz, Richard Segalman, Noah Greif and Joanna Hsieh.
In his StuGov address, Bale detailed his plans for CUOC, including his intent to recruit people from both inside and outside StuGov. He proposed Dai lead communications and Segalman act as vice chair.
Bale said Segalman would make a good vice chair because of his organizational skills.
“He often tends to be one step ahead of me,” Bale said.
Bale added Dai would be a strong communications coordinator because of her previous experience. In this role, she would handle social media and contact with StuGov, Bale said.
Bale was confirmed as CUOC Chair with 32 votes of 39 senators present, and the Chair is able to appoint the other committee members.
Jonmichael Aracena, a senior in CAS, said he is happy with Bale’s confirmation.
“I do firmly believe he will do a good job,” Aracena said. “He will have our best interests in mind, and I’m excited to see what happens.”
Bale said the CUOC’s relationship with BU administration will rely on communication, after meeting attendees raised concerns about the dynamic between the two bodies. He added the CUOC will contact the University before launching investigations into student reports.
“It’s our intention to contact the appropriate University officials and sit down with them and say, ‘Look, this is what we have been hearing,’” Bale said. “‘This is what the students have started to tell us about and this is where we’re starting to see some concern.’”
Bale said the CUOC will not accuse the University of anything, but rather bring issues to BU leadership’s attention and propose potential solutions. He added the CUOC is only interested in escalating situations that the University ignores.
“The administration are people, too, and out of common human courtesy, it is required of us to negotiate,” Bale said. “We’re not pointing a finger or anything, so we are just trying to have a conversation.”
The meeting ended with members of StuGov wishing each other a happy Thanksgiving.
