Boston University Student Government held its first unmoderated planning caucus of the Fall semester in a meeting Monday night and confirmed the co-chairs of FEAST — a standing committee dedicated to addressing student concerns with the dining experience at BU.
The caucus served as a time for members to more informally discuss upcoming initiatives and issues facing the student body.
Senate Chair Shashwat Shah, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he designed the unmoderated planning caucus after noticing senators struggling to work effectively on initiatives last year.
“The goal with this is to just get everyone familiar and used to working,” Shah said. “We’re doing a lot more proactive work and addressing a lot of issues that have come up because of [COVID-19].”
Senator Alex Brumfield, a sophomore in CAS and the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, said he was at first slightly hesitant about how the caucus would work.
“I was a little bit wary just in regards to … how it was going to turn out based on guidelines and previous protocols we’ve had in Senate, but it actually was pretty good,” he said.
Brumfield added he would like to see unmoderated planning caucuses more frequently in the future “because it was a surprisingly productive space.”
Shah said that in circumstances where there is not a demand for other student groups to present, it would be beneficial to conduct such meetings in place of the typical Monday meeting structure.
“Any student can come to Senate and just be a part of the meeting,” Shah said. “Any student can also reach out to me if they want to present something, or work on an initiative.”
The meeting continued with the confirmation co-chairs Shirin Bakre, a senior in the College of Engineering, and CAS freshman Charlotte Stant for FEAST — which stands for Food Equality, Accountability, Sustainability and Transparency.
Bakre said that as co-chair she plans to work on expanding dining hall food options and addressing BU’s lack of transparency on food waste data.
“Boston University has promised to tell us about how much food is being wasted,” she said. “I feel like, because of [COVID-19], they’ve stopped giving that information to us. I want BU to be held accountable.”
Bakre said she believes FEAST will serve as a point of contact between BU Dining Services and the student body.
“My hopes are to send out surveys to students and ask what the downfalls are of the dining hall and what can be improved and what types of meals they’re looking for,” she said.
Bakre was confirmed as FEAST co-chair with 38 votes.
Stant said she became aware of a “huge disconnect” between food banks and her community during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I immediately started fundraising and collecting cans,” she said. “I actually ended up establishing a 501(c)(3) organization … and we worked for almost two years to provide direct food relief and direct delivery to these families’ homes.”
Stant said she wanted to continue addressing and raising awareness on food insecurity while at BU. She was confirmed as FEAST co-chair with 39 votes.
