Your BU hopes to make lasting changes through Student Government

Your BU, one of two slates running in Boston University’s Student Government Executive Board election, said they are hoping to give BU students a SG that provides lasting change and a more inclusive and diverse environment.

The slate is comprised of Presidential candidate SaraAnn Kurkul, Executive Vice President candidate Piergiacomo Cacciamani, VP of Internal Affairs candidate Eva Jungreis and VP of Finance Bernie Lai.

Kurkul, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said their slate’s platform is focused on creating policies that will last.

“Our three things that we are running on for our platform are transparency, community and sustainability,” Kurkul said. “We’re referring to coming up with policies that are going to last throughout other generations of Student Government, because if you look back at the records and the history, a lot of the history repeats itself.”

Kurkul, who currently serves as the executive vice president of SG, said sustainability plays a big role in Your BU’s campaign because of the experiences they’ve had with SG in the past.

“Over time, the student body has become really disconnected with Student Government,” Kurkul said. “Unfortunately, where it’s at today is not where it was in the past. So we’re looking to to bring that back and create policies that will not only bring the community together but also will be sustainable and lasting throughout the following years.”

Cacciamani, a sophomore in the College of Engineering, said one of the slate’s plans to help foster a strong community on campus is the formation of an international committee.

“For community we want, of course, a very cohesive and and multicultural community here at BU,” Cacciamani said.

He said this was especially important to him because of his personal experience.

“I’m from Rome, Italy and the first few months I came to BU, I was so overwhelmed by the opportunities that the university presents, and also the system in general because it’s definitely very different than many systems in Europe and the rest of the world,” Cacciamani said.

Similarly, Your BU also plans to establish a multicultural committee to support the many different backgrounds that students at BU represent.

“I’m sure that many incoming students feel the same way so this committee will help guide those students,” Cacciamani said.

One of Your BU’s goals is to see student groups and organizations get more involved with SG, Kurkul said.

“One of the ways in our policies that we’ll do that is requiring senators to go to senate office hours so they have to attend at least six student groups in their constituencies per semester,” Kurkur said. “These office hours would allow the Student Government to gauge the needs and difficulties of the groups in order to better support them and provide resources.”

Cacciamani said that is one of the major things missing from the current Student Government.

“There is a bit of a lack of representation [of student groups] in the Senate in general,” Cacciamani said. “Even clubs, like six major clubs and three smaller clubs, will be in a constituency of each senator so that the senator will not only represent the needs and the voice of their college, but they will also represent the needs and the voices of all the clubs he or she represents.”

He said most clubs currently have little to no representation in SG, even though they are a core part of the BU community. Your BU aims to bring student groups and student activities back into the realm of SG in order to better support them, he added.

Additionally, Your BU wants to get BU, as well as other local universities, more involved in the city and state government, Kurkul said. They plan on rebuilding the Intercollegiate Student Union to coordinate initiatives between campuses across the city.

“We’d have a council [of local collegiate governments] that would come together to lobby at city hall, go to events, talk to different people in the city council and just provide information on things that students are facing, especially with everything that’s going on with the current federal government in terms of immigration, and it would be nice to talk to the government about issues that students are facing,” Kurkul said.

Hamilton Millwee, a CAS senior and the campaign manager for Your BU, said that ultimately, Your BU just wants to give back and help make BU a better place.

“I personally believe that student government is a bit of a misnomer, because we’re not a government — we’re much more effectively some kind of lobbying union for students,” Milwee said. “Once you take that view you see that all of us are in this together. We’re all just students trying to make the most of our experience at BU and trying to better inform administrative decisions based on BU and giving back to students in a very tangible way. I know this slate truly believes in that as well.”