New UGBC leadership

With a campaign slogan of “Forward Together,” Meghan Heckelman  and Katie Garrigan of the Class of 2025 won an uncontested race for Undergraduate Government of Boston College president and vice president, respectively, and begin their terms on April 30.

Heckelman, the current UGBC vice president, will succeed outgoing president Jonah Kotzen ’24. She and Garrigan, the current UGBC intersectionality chair, downplayed the fact that they ran unopposed in the April 8 election.

“We’ve been using the past couple of weeks…to lay the foundation and figure out logistics for the transition so that we can spend the bulk of our time on the vision for UGBC, and talking about meeting students where they are,” Heckelman told The Heights.

“We’ve been able to really foster relationships in our organization, so we didn’t have to worry too much about harnessing all those votes, and getting [to] people ahead of time,” said Garrigan.

Their seven-point platform prioritized formative education, student wellness, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the Jesuit values to foster a unified campus community through strategic student support and collaborations.

During an April 4 town hall, the duo underscored the importance of intersectionality, and promised to increase support for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts with the AHANA+ Leadership Council, Queer Leadership Council, and Council for Students with Disabilities.  

The new student government leaders stressed that it’s their responsibility to communicate with their fellow students, to understand what their needs are, and how they can support them.  

Heckelman, who is majoring in applied psychology at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development with a minor in political science, and Garrigan, an economics major, report that they plan to maintain the ongoing UGBC Senate initiatives such as laundry subsidies for Montserrat students, possibly underwriting transportation costs for practicums and clinicals, and promoting environmental justice.

“Our approach aims to address student concerns from all cornerstones,” added Garrigan. “A prominent issue our team is looking at is mental health on campus. We are continuing meaningful collaborations with the Center for Student Wellness and University Counseling Services, fostering support for students from their first year to graduation.”

“We’re incredibly excited to be elected UGBC president and vice president, and to lead our peers, and meet student needs through programming and advocacy work within our administration,” said Heckelman.