Candidates running for Boston City Council At-Large gathered at Boston University on Oct. 3 to participate in a forum hosted by the Boston University College Democrats (BUCD) and the Boston University Initiative on Cities. 

Candidates fielded questions from a panel, which included Sean Waddington, president of BUCD, and Dhruv Kapadia, BU’s student body president, focusing on college students’ experiences and how candidates plan to hold higher education institutions and their administrations accountable to the public. 

Six out of the eight candidates were invited to last week’s forum, but only four attended—incumbent councilors at-large Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, and Erin Murphy, as well as challenger Henry Santana. 

Early in the forum, the discussion focused on how Boston is a vibrant college city, but many students do not understand or have access to all the services the city offers.

Murphy said she would ensure that students know “[their] voice matters too, and it should be uplifted at City Hall.” 

Santana, the only challenger in attendance at the forum, drew on his personal experiences living in affordable housing. 

“As someone who grew up in the community, I want to make sure that you guys are integrated,” he said. “I know the value you all bring to the neighborhoods.” 

Louijeune emphasized the importance of a collaborative relationship between college students and the Boston municipal government. 

“Invite us to your campuses. We are here to work for you,” Louijeune said. “Our hospitals, our higher education, that’s what makes our city work.” 

Mejia emphasized the fact that she works for all residents of Boston. 

“Whether you are registered to vote here or not, I work for you,” Mejia said. 

Another question asked how the candidates would encourage students to incite change at institutions whose administrations are not sympathetic to their goals.

Santana drew from his experience as president of his class and student government in high school. 

“You’ve got to keep fighting,” said Santana. “[There is] power in people. Reach out to roommates, classmates, neighbors, and elected officials.” 

Murphy drew on her experience as a parent and educator. 

“When one door closes that just wasn’t your path, that doesn’t mean it is the end of your story,” she said, also committing to “lift up [students’] voices, especially those who are not listened to.” 

Louijeune implored all students to “harness the power of your alumni network” to hold administrations accountable. She leaned on her experience as a student who worked to remove the wheat symbol, which was rooted in slavery, from Harvard Law School’s crest. 

Thanks to her advocacy, there is now a plaque on Harvard’s campus acknowledging that the school’s wealth was built on the backs of enslaved people. 

“Even when your voice quivers, you have to speak truth,” said Mejia. “Speaking truth to power is the most courageous thing you can do.”  

All of the candidates expressed support for the unionization of resident assistants and grad workers at colleges, drawing from their own experiences. Louijeune recently passed a resolution in the city council supporting RA’s organizing at Tufts University. Mejia, having worked as an RA in college, expressed vocal support and willingness to stand at the front of the picket line. Murphy, a former teacher and a daughter of union workers, shared her support, and Santana, drawing from his experience as an immigrant, showed his solidarity in working with folks in organized labor. 

When addressing the taxation of universities, the candidates agreed that it should be implemented more; however, the extent of such action varied across the board.

Murphy acknowledged that the “community benefit,” which is what nonprofits pay back instead of taxation, doesn’t always have financial value. He emphasized a need to “look at the community benefits and ask for more.”

Mejia, who serves on a city council committee to address this issue, said she does not believe the schools are paying their fair share.

“At the end of the day, Harvard, Northeastern, BU, you owe the city of Boston money and you need to pay up,” Mejia said. “We need to redefine what community benefits are because they get a pass.”

Louijeune said universities take up a lot of space that they are not paying for, calling for such institutions to be “better neighbors.”

“Boston’s revenue is so dependent on property taxes,” Louijeune said. “We have to work with what we got, and what we got are these universities.”

Santana said he wants to be able to work with colleges and universities to understand the needs of both the city and its institutions. He is primarily focused on housing—making sure the universities are providing enough and not over-enrolling.

The candidates also addressed the state of Emerson’s financial aid, with a recent Princeton Review list having ranked the college as the worst in the nation in terms of aid.

Mejia noted that elected officials hold the power of the bully pulpit in holding private institutions accountable. 

“I think there is a role that we can play in the public area,” she said. “There’s an opportunity there for us to have a conversation on what it looks like to make the tuition more equitable.” 

Louijeune added that students should make it a point to inform government representatives about such inequities. 

“We can hold people accountable through formal means, but also there are informal means and informal ways that we can apply pressure,” Louijeune said. 

Santana said that although a college education is an investment, it should be more equitable. 

“I’m really committed to making sure that college is accessible to all,” Santana said. “It’s one of the reasons why [my family] came to this country—it was because of the education.”

Sean Waddington said he was happy with the discussion produced at the forum and its ability to connect students with candidates. 

“It went way better than I expected,” Waddington said. “The candidates were being mobbed by students who wanted to talk to them, and that made me just really happy.”