On Tuesday, the Student Assembly (SA) of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College passed a resolution to ensure representation of the Montserrat Executive Board and First-Generation Club in the SA.
Entitled, “A Resolution Concerning the Addition of Student Assembly Seats Representing the Montserrat Executive Board and the First-Generation Club,” the resolution was developed in collaboration with the Montserrat Executive Board and was sponsored by Reed Piercey, MCAS ’19, and co-sponsored by Ignacio Fletcher, MCAS ’20; Sam Szemerenyi, MCAS ’20; Madeleine McCullough, MCAS ’20; and Hugh McMahon, MCAS ’20.
The Montserrat Coalition Executive Board will allow one or more of its members each year to serve as a Montserrat Senator in the Student Assembly, a key point of Piercey and Fletcher’s president and executive vice president campaign platform. The First-Generation Club will also allow one or more members to hold the position of First-Generation Senator. If more than one student is nominated by the Montserrat Executive Board or the First-Generation Club for each group’s respective seat, the winner of each position will be determined by the general student body in the annual Student Assembly election.
These additions will go into effect at the beginning of the spring 2018 SA elections. The student elected to serve as Montserrat Senator shall become a member of the Montserrat Executive Board, if they are not already.
“We want to emphasize that any student in these organizations can run for these positions,” Piercey said.
Noah Jusilla, MCAS ’20, co-director of the First-Generation Club; and Jesse Rascon, MCAS ’19, founder and president of the First-Generation Club, are both members of the Montserrat Executive Board who spoke on behalf of the organizations. They shared their knowledge about how Monserrat and the First-Generation Club’s collaboration with the SA would provide more representation and resources to BC students in need.
According to Jusilla, with the collaboration of the SA, they hope to implement initiatives such as providing more financial assistance to students who cannot afford textbooks and implementing a program where students can donate unneeded dorm items to Montserrat and the First-Generation Club, who would distribute these resources to students who cannot afford them.
“The makeup of Student Assembly as it stands now is an attempt to represent all different parts of the student body to represent different constituencies and groups,” Piercy said. “However, there are important constituencies that we don’t feel necessarily have a voice.”
“Having a set of seats for both First-Generation students and Montserrat students will give the ability to students to feel empowered and see the resources [their representation in the SA] present around BC,” Fletcher said.
Featured Image by Samantha Karl / Heights Staff
