The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate will host the second-ever Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council (BILC) summit on Saturday, bringing together student government leaders from 10 Boston-area colleges and universities in an effort to share ideas on ways to solve common problems in governance.
The TCU Senate passed a resolution on Oct. 4 recognizing the BILC, making Tufts the first school to officially agree to the mission statement of the intercollegiate organization.
The BILC aims to create a network between student leaders in area schools, enabling them to coordinate on similar projects and disseminate ideas. Intercollegiate collaboration in the greater Boston area, the resolution said, has been "sparse and intermittent" in the past.
TCU Senator Edward Chao, a junior, authored last week's Senate resolution. He hopes to increase cooperation between schools, saying there is often overlap in the problems that different student governments confront.
"We face a lot of similar issues," Chao said.
A number of schools, including Tufts, helped found the BILC last spring, and Boston University held the council's inaugural meeting that semester. But the initial gathering was limited in scope: Only BU, Brandeis University and Tufts representatives attended, according to Chao.
This time around, there is broader interest in an intergovernmental organization. "A lot of other schools were interested in the idea," Chao said.
The Berklee College of Music, Boston College, BU, Brandeis, Bentley University, Harvard University, MIT, Northeastern University and Wellesley College have all "tentatively agreed" to the mission statement, according to the text of the resolution.
"I think that the information sharing is going to be the best thing that comes out of it — to learn how other leaders and other governments handle issues," TCU President Brandon Rattiner said.
Student representatives from Bentley, Brandeis, BC and BU confirmed their attendance for this weekend's summit, to be held in the campus center. Several more schools have yet to confirm.
The BILC has some historical precedent. In 2003, representatives from several schools formed the Boston Intercollegiate Government (BIG), which existed for two years before effectively disbanding in 2005, according to Chao. Tufts was not a BIG member school.
Chao said the inspiration for the BILC came directly from the TCU Senate's work on Tufts projects, including expanding wireless Internet access and furthering campus center renovations. While researching these topics, the Senate found itself "looking at other student governments for inspiration," he said.
Rattiner, a senior, is looking forward to putting what he learns at the BILC to practical use. "We'll see if we can make any improvements in our own policies and practices based on the recommendations" from the BILC, added Rattiner.
Samantha Lipscomb, a senior at BC who serves as the school's undergraduate government communications director, hopes the BILC will help avoid redundancies among the student governments.
"We can make sure we're not all doing the same work on the same projects," Lipscomb told the Daily. "We all have to deal with administrations, with bureaucracies. We can use each other to make sure these problems or issues get solved."
Chao said the summit will aim to create a solid organizational structure to sustain the BILC in future years and help it avoid the BIG's fate. The member schools have tentatively agreed to hold one summit per semester going forward.
The organizational structure of the BILC calls for new leadership positions to be established within the council. While the presidents of the various student governments collectively serve on a board of directors that heads the organization, the framework also calls for an executive director who will coordinate between the schools.
There are several other positions within the BILC. Among them, a communications director will manage public relations, and a government affairs director will oversee relations between city and state governments and the BILC.
Bentley Student Government Association President Puja Shah told the Daily she is looking forward to the summit on Saturday. Shah, a junior, listed vandalism, class size and sustainability initiatives as "hot topics" within the Bentley student body.
Devin Cole, the manager of ONEin3 Boston, will speak about the importance of student government at the summit. ONEin3 Boston is an arm of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, a city-run initiative focused on promoting civic engagement among Boston's young adult population.
Lipscomb expressed her support and enthusiasm for the new initiative. "I'm really excited about the council," she said. "It's a good way to make sure that the undergraduate governments are using resources."
