Jenniffer Castillo, A&S '08, and Daniel Sievers, A&S '08, have served as president and vice president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) since their winning campaign last spring. Though their term doesn't come to a close until April 30, the UGBC elections for next year are officially underway. This year, the race promises to be competitive, with nine teams vying for the positions, compared to the three teams Castillo and Sievers ran against during their campaign last year.
"It looks like it's going to be a big field this year," Sievers said. "It's great. It shows a lot of people are taking their time here at BC seriously."
Castillo and Sievers have three months left as leaders of the undergraduate student body, and while they're proud of what they've accomplished to date, the duo has plenty left on their agenda before the end of their run.
"The bigger issues take more than a year to accomplish," said Castillo, referencing their work with the administration on the establishment of an endowment for service trips, a project that past UGBC administrations have been pushing for over four years now. This year's candidates will have to figure these ongoing issues into their personal agendas to ensure they can manage their time on different projects effectively.
The major issue for this year's can didates will most likely be BC's new Master Plan.
Castillo noted that the administration attended two separate meetings with the UGBC last semester to present the ideas of the Master Plan to the student-body government and ask for student input. The winners of this year's election may work with the administration concerning student needs for the new Stolks Commons, Castillo said, which will act as a temporary student center until the Master Plan project can be fully complete.
Both Castillo and Sievers noted that off-campus problems will likely be a major topic at the debates this year, due to the many concerns expressed by students, who are specifically upset about student relationships with the BC Police Department.
Spring Break
