Boston University Student Government confirmed committee chairs, heard about upcoming StuGov election processes and approved the spring 2023 budget in its first meeting of the Spring semester.
Two of the confirmations were for the co-chairs of the IMPACT committee, an at-large party and committee within the Senate. The IMPACT committee “works … to ensure marginalized people on campus feel heard and supported.” This past semester, its LGBTQIA+ student task force published a report on LGBTQIA+ student life and resources, including possible improvements for BU to implement.
Michael Arellano, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the current party leader of the IMPACT committee, ran for co-chair.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my life to have a village that has incredible family members and friends.” Arellano said. “There’s a lot of people at the school that don’t have that, and if I can’t be a part of those people’s villages, then I need to do my part to set the circumstances for those villages to be found here.”
Arellano was confirmed as IMPACT co-chair with 36 votes.
Yash Patel, a CAS sophomore and a current senator representing IMPACT also ran for the co-chair position. Patel discussed the importance of tabling and student outreach in the speech.
“I hope to basically get the ball running and get students involved and engaged with what we’re trying to do,” Patel said.
Patel was confirmed with 30 votes.
The meeting continued with a presentation from the Student Elections Commission, the organization responsible for running StuGov elections and enforcing electoral rules. Their presentation preceded the deadline for intent forms, which are due at the end of the day on Feb. 5.
All Senate positions are up for election, with the exception of colleges that opt for an appointment method, such as CAS and College of Fine Arts. Executive Board applications require a slate of at least four members to run and At-Large Party applications require at least two members to run.
More information about election policies can be found on the SEC’s website, or during the information sessions on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
The meeting concluded with the approval of the largest budget in StuGov history, according to President Dhruv Kapadia.
Nearly all departments had unused funds rolled over from the fall semester except the Internal Affairs Committee, which had a deficit rollover due to errors in printing tote bags, and the Cabinet, which had no funds left over.
This semester, most funding was allocated to the Cabinet and the Senate, with each receiving an additional $9,500 to use as they see fit. The overall spring budget totaled $41,764.22.
The budget was approved with 37 votes.
