In a record-breaking turnout, BridgeToBU was elected to serve as the 2025-2026 Student Government Executive Board. The announcement was released at a formal dinner Sunday night. 

“I’m really thankful that the student body has entrusted us with this very humbling mission,” said Tony Wu, the executive vice president of the slate. “We’re going to do everything we can to revamp the way student government operates and try to … bring people together and foster this collective change.” 

There were 6,784 votes this election cycle, an all-time record for student participation. 

“What really made me proud was not just the fact that BridgeToBU won, but the fact that the Student Elections Commission was able to drive up a historic number of students to vote,” said Akwasi Antwi, the current student body president. 

Natalie Reilly, vice presidential candidate of EmpowerBU — the other slate running for 2025-2026 Executive Board — said this year’s elections have raised the bar for future elections.

“I think we made a lot of progress in terms of getting students involved on campus, which is one of our primary goals,” Reilly said.

BridgeToBU attributed the historic turnout to many things, including its active engagement on social media, which Wu said garnered more than half a million views and tens of thousands of interactions. Wu said the slate had more than 70 different organizations endorsing their campaign.

According to Wu, all the hard work came down to the staffers. 

“We had about 100 staffers, and they were working day and night, telling their friends, texting their group chats, presenting to classes [and] helping us campaign in the [George Sherman Union] and dining halls,” Wu said. 

Reilly said EmpowerBU struggled with managing outreach to the vast majority of clubs, organizations and cultural and affinity groups on campus during its campaign. 

“There’s so many people to reach, as well as seeing what values align with each club in comparison to the opposing slate,” Reilly said.

Wu said while both slates “ran excellent campaigns,” BridgeToBU’s engagement with students set it apart. 

“I think that it was a breath of fresh air for many students who oftentimes have a lot of difficulties trying to get involved or have their voices heard through Student Government,” Wu said.

Wu said BridgeToBU hopes to continue to close the gap between student communities with its three bridge initiatives: students to students, students to student government and students to administration.

Its main campaign is a Spring Festival on Nickerson Field planned for next year — serving as an upgrade to the spring concert — streamlined by its Spring Festival Committee. 

Wu expressed his excitement for helping students “directly share their voice and concerns,” with monthly town hall meetings with administration and StuGov office hours.

As the 2024-2025 school year comes to a close, Antwi expressed his gratitude to the student body for their support during his time in office.

“It was great being your president, but my time is up,” Antwi said. “The work that we are doing is important … I only hope that more students are aware of what we’re doing.”

Wu said now, more than ever, there is a need for a student government and an administration that will step up and address students’ concerns. 

“There’s lots of chaos, lots of distrust, and there’s lots of just concerns on campus. We need a student government and an administration that will step up to those concerns,” Wu said. “I know for a fact that we won’t let them down.”