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Michael Osaghae, MCAS ‘20, and Tiffany Brooks, MCAS ‘21, the president and vice president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC), met with the Board of Trustees on Sept. 30 to discuss the quality of current programs, inclusion at BC, new campus spaces, and UGBC’s goals for this year.
“We adopted a generalist approach for our first meeting of the academic year and covered a wide breadth of topics under categories such as Intersectional Experience, Health & Wellness, Campus Innovations, and Reinvigorating UGBC,” Osaghae told The Gavel.
Under “Reinvigorating UGBC,” they addressed UGBC restructuring and updating the selection process to reduce the overall size of the organization. An important point the two emphasized was the need for more focused advocacy work within UGBC that more closely relates to students' voices and needs.
Additionally, they advocated for more AHANA+ and LGBTQ+ resources and are working closely with the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC) to examine how to better support AHANA+ students, including promoting more staff positions in the center so that they can be better equipped to support the student body.
They also discussed UGBC’s goal to play a greater role in amplifying knowledge of mental health resources and supporting the student body, including updates on the progress of the Lean on Me program after its launch in January 2019.
The conversation took a turn to new campus innovations, including the excitement around the construction of the Schiller Institute, and the recent opening of the Margot Connell Recreation Center. They also stressed the importance of the growth of the African & African Diaspora Studies program, which will now offer a major in the spring.
Osaghae and Brooks felt confident with the Board’s reactions to their presentation, saying: “We received positive and vibrant responses from the Board on a variety of topics and had a substantive conversation about mental health on campus. The members were very interested in hearing what issues were on the top of [students’] minds.”
The two said they are excited about how the meeting went and that they will continue to amplify student voices at the next meeting.
