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The first thing you should know about the new Undergraduate Government of Boston College leadership team, says UGBC President-elect Christopher Osnato, is that they’re passionate about Boston College.
“We really care a lot about BC, and the people in it,” said Osnato, who along with his vice-president, fellow junior Kudzai Taziva, narrowly won the UGBC election last month over the tandem of juniors Vanessa Gomez and Jennifer Wanandi. “Going here has been a tremendously rewarding experience for us, and we’ve wanted to give something back to the University community. We’re excited to have that opportunity.”
Osnato and Taziva will now seek to realize their vision for a Boston College where undergraduates feel more of a connection to one another, as well as to their student government. They also hope to foster improvements in services and resources for academic advising and off-campus life, among other areas.
“Our overall desire is to create a more powerful sense of community,” says Osnato. “BC is a strong academic place, and students are focused on their involvement in academics as well as sports, or music, or other extracurricular activities. That’s a great thing, but our feeling is, let’s not get too immersed in our own worlds — let’s broaden our horizons and make connections with one another.”
The time to start developing these bonds is the beginning of freshman year, says Osnato, who recalls cookouts and other social activities held during orientation as models for friendship building. “You have your roommate, of course, but why not get to know your residence hall floor, your dorm, and the part of campus where your dorm is? It makes the University feel a little smaller, more familiar.”
Osnato, in addition to UGBC, has served on the Quality of Student Life Committee and the Emerging Leaders Program, and volunteered off-campus at the Boston Food Bank and as an elementary school tutor. Taziva, who joined the UGBC Senate as a freshman, has been involved with the AHANA Leadership Council and Relay for Life.
The new UGBC leaders’ relationship dates practically from their arrival at BC: They were in the same freshmen orientation session, and both lived on Newton Campus their first years. As they became active in UGBC, the two found themselves working together on many initiatives and tasks.
So, late last semester, as the 2012 UGBC elections loomed, Osnato and Taziva began thinking, then talking, about running together. “About a week after New Year’s, we just said, ‘Let’s go for it,’” recalls Osnato, a political science and communication major from Clark, NJ, who also was president of his high school student government.
Osnato believes he and his VP, a philosophy and marketing major from Kingston, NY, represent an ideal combination of characteristics and traits. “I think we’re both charismatic and communicate very well with others. Kudzai is a fantastic organizer, and he works about a mile ahead of me. He brings his ideas, I bring my passion, and this blend is something, I feel, that will carry well for us next year.”
Osnato acknowledges that, at a time when many Americans voice pessimism and disillusionment over the country’s politics, public service at most any level might seem a dubious undertaking. But that doesn’t make it any less critical, he says.
“I talk to people, I hear the issues that concern them, and I just feel someone should represent their interests,” says Osnato, who plans to go to law school and foresees, eventually, involvement in politics. “When it comes to inspiration, my parents are right at the top of the list. My mother is a teacher, my father is a plumber, and they’ve worked so hard to make college possible for me. They’ve invested in me, just as BC has invested in me, and I want to do something to pay it back.”