It’s election season. Slates and parties are ramping up for a competitive cycle that will see a town hall today, a debate next week and the elections’ conclusion on April 1st.
From Fight to BU to the Community Action Party, here’s a rundown of the slates and parties vying for a chance at Student Government for the upcoming academic year.
Executive Board slates
This year, two slates are running for Executive Board positions to lead the executive branch of StuGov for the 2022-2023 academic year — Fight to BU and Be You.
Their responsibilities would include serving on various University committees, creating the StuGov budget and starting and leading initiatives around campus, among other duties, as stated in StuGov’s constitution.
Fight to BU
Fight to BU’s slate includes Dhruv Kapadia, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, as president, CAS sophomore Navya Kotturu as executive vice president, CAS sophomore Micah Borkan as vice president of finance and Laney Broussard, a sophomore in the College of Communication, as vice president of internal affairs.
Fight to BU runs on a platform of three pillars — engagement, empowerment and environment — with its goal being to better represent students, empower marginalized communities and improve sustainability within BU’s campus.
When asked what separates their slate from others, Kapadia said it was their experience.
“Me and Navya, my executive vice president, have been in the room with administration,” Kapadia said. “We’ve enacted progressive policy changes. For example, the Quarantine Learning Support Act.”
Kapadia introduced the Quarantine Learning Support Act in last September in response to University Provost Jean Morrison’s advice that members of faculty not record lectures and that students reach out to classmates for their lecture notes if they were placed in quarantine or isolation housing.
The StuGov-ratified act encouraged professors to record and send lectures to students unable to attend in-person lectures due to COVID-19 infection, family emergencies, medical emergencies, sicknesses and missed COVID-19 test appointments.
BU President Robert Brown recommended faculty record lectures in a Jan. 2022 email in response to the omicron variant surge of COVID-19.
More information on Fight to BU is available on its website and Instagram.
Be You
Be You’s slate includes Mikael Rahmani, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, as president, CGS sophomore Saahithi Achanta as executive vice president, Questrom School of Business sophomore Katelyn Lee as vice president of finance and CGS sophomore Joahan Sandoval as vice president of internal affairs.
Be You’s platform is divided into three pillars— academic life, student life and philanthropy.
Rahmani said that their “new perspective” separated Be You from its opponent.
“I bring a new perspective into how to interact with students and administration because I’ve seen … that, very often, Student Government does things on their own without data to back up if students actually want it,” Rahmani said, citing his experience as a senator last semester. “We’re really trying to address the needs of all students.”
Be You proposes initiatives to allow students to give their professors constructive feedback during the semester, as well as create a philanthropy department within StuGov to “better serve the needs of the BU community and the greater Boston area.”
More information on Be You is available on its linktree and Instagram.
At-Large parties
At-Large parties are elected proportionally to eight seats, meaning that the number of seats each party receives is determined by the percentage of the vote they receive.
Five parties are running for a total of eight potential seats — IMPACT BU, BU Catholics, the Unity & Social Justice Initiative, The Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism (CGSA) and the Community Action Party.
IMPACT BU, led by CAS junior Ricky Nieto, is tied to the current Majority Party in StuGov’s Senate. IMPACT BU’s goals focus on “addressing visibility, building authenticity and creating conversation within the BU community,” as stated in a Monday press release sent out by StuGov’s department of communications.
More information on IMPACT BU is available on the party’s Instagram.
The Unity and Social Quality Initiative, led by CAS sophomore Dakota Jackson, seeks to “build better social opportunities for minorities and the wider community.”
“I’m trying to elevate everyone’s voices to a position where they can make an impact at the school,” Jackson said. “I’m not here to just sit here and point fingers in here, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s do that.’ I want to take in everyone’s feedback and I want to boil it down to a workable solution.”
Jackson said the Unity and Social Quality Initiative planned to send out surveys to gain direct student feedback, assist with mental health resources and address isolation on campus.
More information on the Unity and Social Quality Initiative is available on the party’s Instagram.
The Community Action Party, led by CAS junior Jack McGinn, is focusing on applying the University’s resources and the student body toward bringing social and economic justice for Boston’s communities, especially those who are “economically disadvantaged and in need of financial and volunteer support,” as stated in the press release.
“I think the fact that we are trying to focus on the broader Boston community is something that sets us apart,” McGinn said. “We are of the mind that there are a lot of very pressing and important issues that are going on not only on campus but off campus.”
McGinn said the Community Action Party plans to establish clearer dates and deadlines for registering new organizations at the Student Activities Office, create support systems for new student organizations and give service organizations a budget of $500 that, if not spent by the end of the semester, will be returned to administration.
More information about the Community Action Party is available on the party’s Instagram.
The CGSA, led by CAS junior Kaylan Comenole, is “committed to developing and maintaining an intersectionality inclusive space at BU for students from marginalized communities, specifically LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and SA survivors,” according to the press release.
The parties’ platform focuses on gender equality and inclusivity, queer inclusivity and “wellness that actually feels like wellness,” Comenole said.
“We’ve been such a big part of student life, and we host six other clubs currently,” Comenole said. “It feels natural for us and for the rest of our community for CGSA to play a larger part in Student Government considering the nature of our structure.”
More information on CGSA is available on its Instagram.
BU Catholics, led by Medardo Villareal Jr., “are an interest group that will advocate for the rights of all Catholics on this campus.”
BU Catholics did not respond to a request for comment.
How to vote
Voting will be made available on BU Student Link between March 28-31. Prior to voting, a town hall will be held at the George Sherman Union Backcourt Mar. 16th from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and At-Large and E-Board debates will be held in Photonics Colloquium Room 906 March 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
