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History

Our Founding: The Student Congress was established in the 1930’s as Boston University’s undergraduate student government. In the Spring of 1969, the Student Congress was replaced by the Student Union. As the Student Union, the structure changed from a council comprised of students, faculty and administration to a student-only government. The executive board, referred as the Joint Council of the Student Union, consisted of a president, vice-president, five secretaries focusing in the areas of Cultural Affairs, Student Life, Community Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Financial Affairs, and the presidents of all the college governments. With the constitution ratified, the first election was held between two slates. After 5000 student votes, the “All Together Now” Slate was elected and Richard Lubin replaced Frederick Christ-Janer as president.

An Exciting First Full Year. The Student Union set out with the goal of providing services. Over the course of the summer, the Executive Board stayed in Boston to prepare for the coming school year. At the beginning of the year, the Union asked for an increase in the Student Activity Fee (What is now referred to as the Undergraduate Student Fee) from 2.50 to 11.00. The increase passed by a large majority and the Union budget grew to 146,000 dollars (estimated to be about 700.000 by today’s standards). With the extra money, the Student Union funded many projects and publications (The News and The Daily Free Press for example). The Student Union started course evaluations, housing, and birth control booklets, and gave 35,000 to the Social Council (today’s Programming Council). With the money, the Social Council had hosted three major concerts by the end of the first semester. The Student Union also created a Steak House that offered 1.89 steak dinner plates. The Steak House turned in a coffee house/ late nightclub called the Backstreet on the weekends where local musicians played regularly.

A Turbulent Second Semeter: The Student Union focused on administrative changes during the second semester. However, after a riot broke out between police and protesters in November, 20 students found themselves in jail. The Union organized a campus-wide strike to free the students and rehire a popular professor that had been fired among other demands. When the date of the one-day strike arrived, nearly 7,000 students participated. As a result, the students were released on parole with no other demands met. The semester came to a closed with failed attempts to abolish the grading system and degree requirements.

Highlights

1971-1972: President Silber removed the Student Activity Fee from the Student Union budget leaving it broke. After a referendum, the student body asked that the Student Union control the Student Activity Fee. President Silber did not agree but suggested the voluntary collection of the student activity fee. While students attempted to save the union, the Student Union lost the University’s respect by the end of the year.

1977-1978: Support from the University had diminished over the previous five years. Under the direction of Union President Ken Menges, the Student Union regained recognition throughout the University when it became a “student group” through the Student Activities Office. The Student Union also evolved into the form it would maintain until 2004 (3 branches and 2 special bodies).

1989-1990: The Union organized a protest in Marsh Plaza against the guest policy, a more severe version of the current policy which had no guests after 11pm and no study extensions. Sadly, the protest failed to remove the guest policy. Instead, the policy was later toned down to give students more freedom.

The 90’s: Through Executive Board resignations, Senate-Executive Board conflict, or administration-Union fall outs, the Student Union gradually improved from year to year.

1990-1991: Over the summer, an administrative task force decided to remove the Residence Hall Governments from the Union and thus, the position from the executive boards of the residence halls. In the next month, 3 executive board members including the president, resigned from their posts. The Senate Crime and Safety Committee successfully got approval for the installation of the blue-light system around campus, dramatically improving campus safety.

1993-94: Project 100 (later to become SU Service Council, and now a part of Programming Council) is founded as a program to get 100 volunteers to get involved with the Union.

2003: Starting with the beginning of the year, the Union found itself caught up with infighting and executive board and senate differences. The new Dean of Students, Dean Elmore, created a committee of Students, Administrators, and Faculty to put a stop to the problem. As a result of this committee, the General Assembly was created. This assembly would be run by an Executive board and would be separate from Programming Council and Allocations Board.

2004: The newly elected Executive Board and General Assembly wrote the Constitution and approved it by the Student Body. The Union focused entirely on student advocacy and left programming and the allocation of funds to its sister groups, the Programming Council and Allocations Board, respectively. Starting a new government takes time, and in time the Student Union will surely arise once again to be a successful advocate for the students of Boston University.