The final Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) meeting of the academic year was held this Wednesday, May 4. Students came forward to fill executive vacancies in BSG leadership for next year, and current members reflected on their time with the organization.

The meeting began with a ceremonial passing of the gavel from current BSG president Ryan Britt ’22 to newly elected president Susu Gharib ’23. This was followed by a discussion about how the executive vacancies will be filled.

Students interested in filling the vacancies who attended the meeting on Wednesday night will email the newly elected executive leadership expressing their interest for their desired positions, and the new executive leaders will choose who will fill each vacancy. The executive team met last night to make this decision and relay the results to the student body.

Ryan Delaney ’25 came forward to fill either the Chair of Student Affairs or the Chair of Student Organizations role. Then, Jacob Horrigan ’24 offered to fill the Chair of Academic Affairs position. Ange Ishimwe ’25 stepped forward for the Chair of Diversity and Inclusion, and Rose Keller ’24 came forward to run for the Chair of the Treasury.

The meeting then transitioned to a more casual reflection for current BSG members to discuss their experiences this year and give advice to the upcoming leadership team.

Current BSG vice president Andrew Kaleigh ’24 began by talking about his work on the Social and Honor Code committee, which aimed to change and improve the code. The committee worked to find inconsistencies or confusing clauses of the code and create a system for students to petition changes to the administration.

“We faced a lot of road bumps and a couple breakdowns of communication with different groups on campus, but we kept on persisting. We didn’t end up achieving everything we wanted to, but it was a really interesting process where we got to learn a lot about how the administration works,” Kaleigh said.

He also touched on his attempt to revise the BSG constitution and its bylaws. One particular clause he focused on was the changed expectation of BSG to comment on campus, local and national news on behalf of students.

In this vein, Kaleigh urged the committee to address the recent news about the Supreme Court’s plan to overturn Roe v. Wade. He was approached by a local Brunswick citizen about an upcoming pro-choice rally in town that they wanted the BSG to advertise.

Later, current Chair of Student Affairs Miranda Baker ’24 discussed the success of the Polar Pause that extended Thanksgiving break. She was one of the main advocates for this change and is glad that this precedent will be permanently implemented beginning in the 2023-24 academic year.

Firas Abboud ’22 joined the council only this semester, so he reflected on the perseverance of BSG through the return to campus.

“There was a high risk for a lot of this campus to lose a big part of its identity with graduating two classes in the midst of [Covid-19],” Abboud said. “To see the BSG come back firing on all cylinders with Ryan being the longest tenured member and continuing the work he started his sophomore year, keeping true to a large majority of the process, with the things he hoped to accomplish. It’s great to see the campus rejuvenated and reignited in this way.”

Looking toward next year’s leadership team, current Class of 2025 President Khalil Kilani ’25 talked about the encouragement of seeing the progress BSG made this year and how it inspired him in his own work with the class council. As class council elections are set to be underway, the Class of 2025 race is the most contentious with more than three candidates running for all positions except president.

Britt ended the reflections by thanking council members for all the work they have done over his time on BSG.

“It’s been an honor to work with all of you and to be in this position. Coming from Ohio and being a trailer park kid, it’s been crazy to be here in the first place [and] to then be in a position like this and making things happen on campus. I’m really grateful and thankful for you guys who worked with me this year,” Britt said.

The meeting concluded with a recounting of a few upcoming events including a sophomore class pre-finals event and the final Mental Health Board Meeting on Tuesday. The board plans to start back up around the same time in September next year after the Class of 2026 fills its leadership positions.