Boston University Student Government in a meeting Monday night introduced initiatives such as a community for mental health discourse and a potential Allston crawl not for partying, but for aiding the neighborhood’s fight against gentrification.
Building Bold was introduced to StuGov by co-founder Sasha Malhotra, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, who said the page is meant to “normalize” mental health conversations and avoid feelings of alienation.
“It’s kind of a mental health version of the Humans of New York page … but a little bit more elaborate,” Malhotra said. “The theory behind this is that acknowledging an insecurity or a struggle often helps you become bolder, and it’s kind of the first steps in overcoming any situation that you’re going through.”
Building Bold allows students to submit personal stories based on prompts related to mental health, Malhotra said. The week of every post, the account shares coping tips related to the story.
Malhotra said neither she nor her co-founder are not licensed medical professionals.
“We’re not legally allowed to prescribe any medication, of course, but also not allowed to give any advice,” Malhotra said. “We wouldn’t assume that we know them well enough to give advice, but definitely we can point you in the right direction to get counseling.”
Currently, Building Bold is based on Instagram as @buildingxbold, and Malhotra said the group may consider making a blog.
At Large Sen. Hessann Farooqi, CAS junior, said during the meeting that he thought the initiative seems to be a “great idea.”
“I’m really excited for it to move forward,” Farooqi said in an interview after the meeting. “I hope that a lot more people are going to check out the page, submit their stories and amplify the message. It’s really important.”
The evening continued with updates from the Cabinet, who had planned initiatives for the Fall semester, including the Boston Intercollegiate Government VoteBIG week that BU StuGov participated in last week.
Ana Obergfell, director of City Affairs and a junior in CAS, said the week went smoothly.
“It was extremely successful,” Obergfell said. “We had great turnout for our events, and so we are going to be continuing pushing voter registration and voter engagement for the rest of the semester.”
Obergfell said the City Affairs committee is planning an “Allston crawl” to try to combat gentrification in the neighborhood.
“Our idea is to host an Allston crawl but for volunteering,” Obergfell said, “and to go in and not just make Allston BU’s party place but to actually give back to that community that gives so much to us.”
Other plans include possibly partnering with local sustainable businesses and Boston Public Schools, Obergfell said, although no concrete connections or plans have yet been made.
Student representatives also discussed a new StuGov website, a vegetarian cookbook compiled of student recipes, and a grade transparency report to be published at the end of each semester to address rumors of grade deflation at BU.
The new StuGov website will be launched “in the next several days,” according to Communications Director Ting Wei Li, a junior in CAS.
