At Tuesday night’s UGBC meeting, KiKi Stoker, student-athlete representative, encouraged the BC community to do more to honor former BC hockey players Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, who were killed by a suspected drunk driver last month.
“We had a little kind of memorial outside of the basketball pavilion, but I really didn’t feel the respect that I think they deserved,” Stoker, CSOM ’25, said.
Multiple student senators voiced support for Stoker’s proposal to collaborate with the athletic department to start a tradition of honoring the brothers at a gold bandanna-themed event each year.
“We could maybe create a new tradition at BC where one of the hockey games has a special message, like the Red Bandanna football game, but the gold bandanna hockey game or something like that where it could be a tradition that goes on for many years,” Katie McCaffrey, student senator and MCAS ’25, said.
Meghan Heckelman, UGBC president and LSEHD ’25, and Katie Garrigan, UGBC vice president and MCAS ’25, both emphasized the importance of giving the Gaudreau family time and privacy to process their grief before hosting any public events—especially considering how recently the accident occurred.
“This literally just happened—it’s a really sensitive situation,” Garrigan said. “So, I don’t want to just jump to start promoting things and doing an initiative when it’s obviously very raw.”
Earlier in the meeting, UGBC prepared for upcoming meetings with BC Dining and the University Council on Teaching (UCT) —a panel of faculty from all schools that advises the provost on issues related to teaching and learning.
Ryan Milligan, UGBC chief of staff and MCAS ’26, said that the consensus he has heard from students on ordering kiosks, which were added to The Chocolate Bar and Hillside Cafe last semester, is overwhelmingly negative.
“I think the kiosks are definitely something that people are overall very unhappy with,” Milligan said.
Student senators, however, expressed mixed opinions on the kiosks. McCaffrey said she likes the kiosks because they allow users to easily customize their drinks and speed up the ordering process.
“I have a positive perspective on the kiosks,” McCaffrey said. “I think they take away a lot of that traffic that would generate a line.”
Nonetheless, McCaffrey acknowledged that the kiosks can prove difficult when ordering food, especially for students with dietary restrictions or allergies.
Andrew Mimmo, student senator and MCAS ’25, advocated for removing kiosks from the Chocolate Bar because it is often not busy.
“I feel like with the Chocolate Bar, it’s just so unnecessary because there are so many points during the day where there’s nobody there—they’ll maybe have one rush a day,” Mimmo said.
Later in the meeting, the Academic Affairs Committee solicited senators’ input for proposals to bring before the UCT throughout the year.
Delphine Gareau, academic affairs committee chair and MCAS ’26, said the committee has already begun advocating for faculty to include a section on their syllabi acknowledging the importance of seeking help for mental health–related issues and directing students toward available support.
“Encouraging faculty to have mental health statements on their syllabi is a big priority for us,” Gareau said.
Alexis Thomas, Montserrat student representative, intersectionality committee chair, and MCAS ’25, also suggested adding a question into end-of-semester course evaluations that asks students if they found the textbook valuable for their learning.
“I think that a lot of students don’t feel that they can tell their professor that the textbook wasn’t really useful,” Thomas said. Mariame Diop, student senator and MCAS ’27, said that because many class materials can be found online inexpensively, the UCT should ask professors who prohibit the use of electronics in their class to make exceptions in certain cases—especially for low-income students.
“I have this idea that, based on certain financial circumstances, some teachers that would usually not allow you to use your laptop will let you use your laptop to access certain books,” Diop said.
Also during the meeting, the Senate voted to officially eliminate the community relations committee—a move that was debated at the end of last year—and confirmed Andrew Williams, MCAS ’27, as environmental and sustainability policy coordinator.
Update (9/11/2024, 1:45 p.m.): This article was updated to reflect that KiKi Stoker, student-athlete representative and CSOM ’25, first proposed honoring the Gaudreau brothers at a gold bandanna-themed hockey game.
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