It’s time for integrity

By: Eric Gillis

It’s that time of year again, when students are given the chance to elect people from their respective faculties to represent them on the Student Representative Assembly.

In doing so, students are able to set the direction of their Student Union for the next year.

You are no doubt by now tired of being inundated with the various ambitions and visions of candidates. I know that it may be overwhelming, but it’s important. What these people say and stand for needs to be of substance and reflective of a student union that isn’t afraid to tackle big picture issues.

And that’s what I think this Student Union needs—SRA members who aren’t afraid to be considered controversial, to challenge the status quo and to truly stand up based on principle.

For me, that means standing up for better healthcare for students. It means providing emergency funding to students when they are faced with unexpected financial emergencies. It means consulting students when wanting to spend $215,000 of student money on a year-end celebration. It means providing our Student Union employees—the people serving you at Union Market, and TwelvEighty, or helping you print things at the Underground—a wage that isn’t below the poverty line. It means advocating for better accessibility on campus. It means letting students vote on who their Vice Presidents are.

It’s about what is important to you as a student. Whether that’s lower food prices on campus or paid student placements or anything in between, I urge you to search within yourself and find what you are passionate about, because whether you yourself are running or not, this is your chance to effect change within your Student Union.

For me, it’s about putting students first and having a student union that meets their needs. That’s the student union I believe in. And that’s why I’m running.

Because together, we can make it happen.