Core — a single word with many meanings. But for Boston University Student Government slate BridgeToBU, it spells out the four fundamental words fueling their mission: community, outreach, response and empowerment.
As one of two slates running for the 2025-2026 Student Government Executive Board election, BridgeToBU’s goal is to be a platform for student voices. Its candidates say they’ve heard students’ frustrations and have assembled a team to be the bridge between those voices and solutions.
“The singular most pressing issue is to successfully empower student voices … in face of active repression, and in face of active pushback that may happen from the upper levels of [university] leadership,” Tony Wu, a junior and BridgeToBU’s executive vice president, said.
Wu, who’s had previous experience working on different political campaigns, said the most recent campaign he had the opportunity to work on was the “Harris for President” campaign last year.
When describing the formation of the slate, Matthew Feliciano, BridgeToBU’s presidential candidate, called Wu “the mastermind behind it all.”
Wu, a veteran in student government, said he began thinking about running in October — and since then, the ball has been rolling.
Feliciano, who is also StuGov’s director of academic affairs and the internal vice president of Alianza Latina, said BridgeToBU’s platform aims to bridge historical gaps within the BU community, primarily between the student body, student government and the administration.
To fill those gaps, BridgeToBU will actively seek out issues, rather than wait for students to raise them, Feliciano said.
Zakiya Majeed-Landau, BridgeToBU’s vice president of internal affairs, is executive staffer for BU StuGov Engagement Cabinet and a member of the Phi Alpha Delta fraternity. She described the slate’s platform as a “collaborative agenda.”
“It’s not just like we announce ideas and initiatives, it’s more like going to people, speaking to them, engaging with them, and asking every club and every student their personal concerns … and then incorporating that into the agenda,” she said.
One idea is creating a “task force” of club liaisons, who will routinely check in with clubs and student groups to gauge “how student government can better serve them,” Wu said.
Another issue BridgeToBU identified is a lack of school spirit, Feliciano said. Events like a 24-hour fundraising marathon and turning the annual spring concert into a festival are some ways to create a more unified student body, he said.
BridgeToBU’s tangible plans are what sets them apart from other campaigns, Wu said.
“Actions speak louder than words,” he said. “Rather than just saying we want to do X, Y, Z or we want this to be done, we are saying here’s how we will do that.”
Majeed-Landau said she joined the slate because she aligned with its policy and agenda.
“BU is obviously super diverse and has a lot of different communities, and the slate has this whole mission to bridge those communities together,” Majeed-Landau said. “I think I was really attracted to that initially, and that’s something that I’m really passionate [about] working on.”
Similarly, Hanna Yilma, BridgeToBU’s candidate for vice president of finance was drawn to the slate because of personal experiences.
Yilma, StuGov engagement cabinet executive staffer and a member of Phi Alpha Delta and Kappa Delta, said she found freshman year isolating and difficult, but once she got involved in student government, she saw BridgeToBU’s potential to change this for future students.
“Just seeing how tight knit everybody is and how motivated everybody is and really dedicated to making sure we’re achieving concrete changes was really what pushed me to get past whatever insecurities I might have about running,” she said.
Kevin Moscat, one of the co-directors of communications for the campaign, shared a similar sentiment.
“I just truly enjoy not only the group of individuals who are working so hard to make this campaign so successful, but also so proud of such a diverse group of people who are coming together to put their best foot forward for BU,” Moscat said.
The bond shared between members of the group reaches beyond a professional level. The team members are all good friends, often hanging out together and sharing hot pot.
“I think everybody has their own unique little roles in the dynamic, but I think everybody really gets along with each other,” Yilma said.
The past few months have been busy, and balancing everyday workload on top of building a successful campaign has been difficult, Feliciano said. However, being able to talk to people and doing what he loves fueled him and the rest of the slate in the home stretch.
As the campaign period comes to an end, BridgeToBU wants students to know that above all else, they are here for them, Majeed-Landau said.
“We really want to hear them,” she said. “We want to reassure them that they’re protected on campus, they have a voice and we want to include them in everything.”
