We have moved forward. Last year, Matt Nacier, our teammates, and I envisioned that our administration would not be a perfect one, but a full one. I accept responsibility for everything that UGBC has done over the past year. Although there have been many challenges and criticisms, it would have been a fool’s errand to attempt to please everyone all the time. We have accomplished our goal-to catalyze a more dynamic student voice.
We did not strive for personal glory, but to support others-in fighting for seats at tables where we had been crowded out, solving problems that had been deemed outside our scope, and including more students in an increasingly dynamic conversation about the future of BC.
UGBC is criticized constantly, but people should recognize its members’ oft-unacknowledged successes. Some may have planned a single aspect of a single event. Others may have coordinated groundbreaking policy projects. It has all required time, effort, and sacrifice. Hard work is not exclusive to UGBC, but I am blessed to have seen it in such a high concentration within UGBC. Anyone who has been a UGBC member should be proud.
We are grateful to all the administrators, faculty, and fellow student leaders that continue to work with us. Although “University bureaucrats” have been criticized lately, nothing should diminish the concern and support of the industrious and humble University officials. An entire page could be filled with thanks, but UGBC is particularly indebted to Vice President of Student Affairs Barb Jones and SPO Director Gus Burkett.
A Heights columnist has recently criticized such partnerships among student leaders and University officials. It is a naive perspective. Relationships across the University are the most important legacies of all leaders. Those coming after us will continue to rely on the atmosphere of trust and dialogue that has been developed. We need to take hard stands, but we also need to actively engaged in dialogue when students must have a say, from building a new student center, to defining closer faculty collaborations, and discerning BC’s 21st century identity. Throwing rocks gets you only so far before people stop talking with you.
If UGBC has succeeded at anything, then it has succeeded in supporting a lively conversation, through events and discussions. Conversations don’t sell as many papers as controversies, but it has been amazing to see discussions take off within the pages of The Heights and around campus. Getting the discourse started has been an immensely challenging, but also one of the most fulfilling, experiences as an Eagle. And to my fellow Eagles, I have learned so much and have been humbled by serving you over the past year. Thank you for a full year, and God bless.
Matthew Alonsozana
Executive Vice President of UGBC
A&S ’14
