By Erin Kelly
In an effort to bring more student voices into Boston politics, members of the student governing councils at various schools around Boston are considering bringing back a collaboration that existed a year ago, said Joey Fiore, president of Northeastern’s Student Government Association (SGA).
The idea to bring back this collaboration, called the Boston Intercollegiate Government (BIG), started March 24 at a conference held in the Northeastern Alumni Center with student leaders and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
BIG was largely prevalent and active throughout Boston between 2002-2004, but disbanded last year, Fiore said.
The coalition will partly act as an advocacy group for students, Fiore said.
Mayor Menino called the meeting at the alumni center with various student government members from universities in Boston, where he introduced the new Boston Urban Mechanics Program. The program offers students summer jobs in Boston city government and introduces them to important policymakers and issues across city agencies, said Menino in a statement.
“The meeting was a great success with representatives from 24 area colleges and universities,” Menino said in the statement.
However, once Menino left the Alumni Center, the student representatives discussed the need for more communication between student government members, and proposed restarting BIG, Fiore said.
“At the very end, the students took initiative among themselves to talk about a continuation of an intercollegiate group,” said Virginia Sophia Chau, a senior at Lesley College and a student leader who attended the meeting.
The main goal of BIG is to bring more student voices to the city itself, Fiore said.
“The idea is to facilitate communication between student governments [throughout Boston], so we can work together, and beyond that, it’ll help us get some greater advocacy power within the city itself,” Fiore said.
Many ideas, events and propositions Northeastern’s SGA does for its students would be helpful to other schools, and many principles at other schools would be helpful if applied at Northeastern, Fiore said.
“If there is not communication between our schools, we can’t share this information,” Fiore said.
Chau said each school has different concerns, and when a group of schools find themselves focused on the same issue, they can work together to achieve goals.
“Overall, I think for the group itself, it’s more about networking and working together and understanding what each school is doing on certain issues, and using each other as resources to collaborate on these issues,” Chau said.
Lesley University is working with Simmons College, focusing on diversity dialogue and awareness throughout their individual campuses, while the New England Conservatory and Wellesley College are working together to make their campuses more art-vibrant communities, Chau said.
“Each school has a different issue, but it’s of interest for other schools, so it’s a great opportunity to use each other as resources,” Chau said.
Chau said the student government representatives from Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern were collaborating about the “no more than four” vote recently passed in Boston.
Referring to the decision by members of the Boston Zoning Commission that no more than four undergraduates can share an apartment in Boston, Fiore said the decision was a push over the edge and brought the realization that students need to stand up for themselves and make their voices matter.
City leaders and groups within the city of Boston do not value student’s voices, ideas and concerns as much as they should, Fiore said.
“It’s time we stand up. This ‘no more than four’ thing was the last straw. We have to represent ourselves,” Fiore said.
Fiore said Menino is concerned about what students in the Boston area think; however, the one meeting a year for student government leaders and random advisory he employs are insufficient for student input.
“We need serious bargaining and fighting power,” Fiore said. “I think that’s what BIG can be if we set it up the right way.
