In his campaign for MSU president, Olami Olalere aims to introduce an MSUTV, create a back-to-school event day and promote housing accessibility
Olami Olalere is a third-year Honours Life Sciences, and one of three students running for the McMaster Students Union 2025 presidential election. The three main pillars of his platform emphasize improving student life, fostering student engagement and promoting student expression.
Olalere's refers to these pillars as the "iSee" framework. His campaign slogan is "this is on me, all for you!"
Student Life
The first pillar of Olalere's campaign focuses on improving student life. Olalere highlights four key areas of action under student life: bettering engagement with and access to MSU services by improving advertising, addressing housing accessibility, advocating for better transit and events designed for enrichment and fun.
Olalere proposes increasing access to MSU services through enhancing advertising. Olalere plans to raise awareness of the services and resources the MSU offers, ensuring that students are better informed. To achieve this, in his campaign platform he proposes "partnering more" with MSU affiliated centres, such as the Women and Gender Equity Network, the Pride Community Centre and the Student Health Education Centre, to drive more traffic towards MSU services.
With the goal of improving helping students find housing, Olalere proposes holding a housing fair where landlords would showcase their properties. He also plans to collaborate with the municipal government to uphold student tenant protections and establish a route of direct communication between students and the municipal government. He has indicated an intention to introduce a housing budget to fund these initiatives.
Olalere's next priority is improving transportation on and around campus. He plans to engage with Metrolinx to increase the frequency of GO busses during rush hours. He also wishes to arrange monthly buses for students to attend away Marauder sports games to foster school spirit.
Lastly, Olalere wants to introduce new events that enrich the student experience by planning additional events for homecoming, including a halftime show at the football game and to build on the night concert by including a fair featuring local vendors.
He also proposes a smaller "Back-to-School Day" event on campus, offering entertainment and activities to celebrate the return to campus at the start of the academic year.
Student Engagement
The second pillar of Olalere's campaign focuses on engaging students with campus events that promote inclusivity, empower student voices and encourage civic participation.
Olalere proposes introducing a culture festival or month featuring various cultural events, performances and exhibitions to address what he perceives as a lack of events that represent the diverse student body.
Olalere also proposes creating a "Maroon Wall," a place for students to express themselves and engage with peers. He intends to collaborate with McMaster Athletics to create a McMaster student-only stand for home games.
With the goal of showcasing student creativity, he proposes hosting a gallery and art exhibition where students can display their work, participate in a bidding process and win prizes.
With the goal of fostering engagement with MSU politics, Olalere proposes student town hall meetings in the McMaster University Student Centre atrium to discuss key issues with the MSU. He also proposes collecting the opinions of students through surveys, suggestion boxes and monthly MSU outreach booths in MUSC.
Additionally, Olalere wants to encourage civic participation by educating students on the importance of voting and providing peer support resources to what he refers to as "election anxiety."
Student Expression
The third pillar of Olalere's campaign focuses on student expression.
In his platform, Olalere proposes hosting a Halloween festival. The festival would feature events for both on and off-campus students, including a haunted house in the Hub.
If elected, he claims he would create "MSUTV", a student-run media outlet dedicated to showcasing the vibrant life of campus. The platform would live-stream sporting events, student governance coverage and highlights of campus events, allowing McMaster students to see their stories come to life.
More information on Olami's campaign can be found via Instagram.
While Olalere's campaigns aims to address a wide range of student issues, some points lack detailed planning and would benefit from more research and consultation
Olami Olalere's campaign succeeds in highlighting a wide scope of student issues on campus while proposing initiatives to improve the operations of the MSU. However, many of these promises lack clarity, substance and proper consultations with key stakeholders and experts on campus.
In his campaign, Olalere's first pillar focuses on increasing traffic to MSU services by enhancing advertising methods. While Olarere shared with the Silhouette that he consulted full-time MSU staff about student usage of MSU services, his platform fails to include any data or specific details from these consultations to validate the need for this promise.
In his platform point on housing accessibility, Olalere mentioned his intention to create a route of communication between students and the municipal government to improve tenant protections for students. However, this proposal lacks clarity regarding who exactly students would be communicating with or what concrete steps would be taken to implement this communication channel. Olami did not state that he had consulted with any city officials on this point.
Student Engagement
In the second pillar of his campaign, Olalere envisions creating a “Maroon Wall”, a dedicated space for students to express themselves, share stories and engage with peers. Yet, key details about the initiative remain undefined, such as where the wall would be located.
Olalere intends to work with McMaster Athletics to create a student-only stand for sports games on campus to encourage student engagement in sports and to foster school spirit.
“I go to almost all the basketball games, almost all the football games, soccer games, men, women, volleyball games. I support the team, physically in all these aspects. I enjoy watching the team . . . and I go to these [games]. I am seeing the attendance. It is low,” said Olarere.
Olalere did consult with Director of McMaster Athletics and Recreation Keenan Jeppesen, and both agreed this was a worthwhile initiative to explore.
One of Olalere's proposals involves arranging monthly meetings with students in the McMaster University Students Centre, where, if elected as MSU president, he would provide a space for students to voice their concerns.
When speaking to the Silhouette, he was asked how he would handle students raising controversial topics and ensuring that such public discussions are respectful. Olalere acknowledged the potential for these issues but ultimately stated that students' voices should be heard. More consideration into the safety and security of this event could help to strengthen this platform point.
He further suggested that the meetings would be reassessed halfway through, though this response lacked clarity on how potential conflicts would be managed effectively and whether any concrete actions or protocols would be implemented to ensure fair representation and productive dialogue.
Student Expression
The third pillar of Olalere's campaign includes implementing a new MSU service called “MSUTV”. This student-run media outlet would aim to showcase life and events on campus.
However, there are already two existing student-run MSU services. The Silhouette, McMaster's student-led newspaper established in 1930, and 93.3 CFMU, McMaster's campus radio station established in 1963, similarly cover campus events, news and sports.
As of May 1, 2025, both departments will be funded by the CFMU Radio Inc. student fee to enable greater cross-collaboration, including more joint video initiatives.
Olalere's platform does not acknowledge these established services or indicate whether he consulted on the creation of a new campus media outlet. Olalere did not consult with the Silhouette or CFMU about what exactly his "MSUTV" would cover and how the two services might overlap.
When questioned in an interview, Olalere elaborated on his idea, including plans for post-game interviews and opportunities for students to interview athletes, with these segments and games being broadcasted on television. This would bridge the gap between the athletics and student sides of campus life, according to Olalere.
The current campus screen network that the MSU owns were replaced through a capital-expenditure request to the SRA in 2022. They currently run paid advertising and the Silhouette news ticker. There has been no clarification from the candidate if he proposes to still have this remain in addition to the "MSUTV" content.
However, he still did not clarify how his new proposed media service would fit alongside and be distinguished from the two already existing campus media services.
Finally, when being interviewed by the Silhouette, Olalere walked back one of his points in his original campaign platform that he provided. When discussing his proposed housing fair, he admitted he thought the idea was infeasible.
Overall, Olalere's campaign succeeds in presenting himself as a candidate eager to empower student voices.
It is also worth noting that Olalere is the only candidate running for MSU President from outside of the "MSU Bubble," showcasing the want for students to get involved to make a difference on campus.
Nevertheless, it ultimately falls short due to lack of clarity in his proposals and a failure to provide details on how he plans to implement his ideas effectively.
Robin Lamarr has been the only person of colour in a movement class. With this personal experience and her own desire to make mindful movement accessible, the movement educator and community activist had been thinking about how she could address the lack of representation in the movement community.
When she obtained a physical space for the studio she founded, Goodbodyfeel, she saw it as a good time to introduce a designated space for people of colour. The result was the first Movement Melanin Expression workshop on Feb. 24. The two-hour, three-part workshop was designed for individuals identifying as Black, Indigenous or people of colour.
“The intention is to create a space where folks who usually feel like they don't belong can feel belonging. And then, because it's an exclusive space, we can be open, raw, vulnerable and honest about what… we're feeling and why… [W]e can be super open about it without having to… defend ourselves against someone who might have white fragility for example,” said Lamarr.
The workshop was the result of a partnership with Hamilton-based visual alchemist and movement teacher-in-trainer, Stylo Starr. Starr joined the Goodbodyfeel Teacher Training last year when she met Lamarr and is almost finished her 200 hours of training.
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Lamarr and Starr have collaborated on a similarly structured workshop before. Last summer, they ran a satellite workshop at the Art Gallery of Hamilton wherein Lamarr led a movement sequence followed by Starr leading a walking meditation involving collage material.
Similarly, Movement Melanin Expression began with Lamarr leading participants through her famed R&B Pilates movement sequence. The sequence starts slow and warms up the individual parts of the body before ending with an intense squat sequence wherein participants scream in order to release all their emotions.
After moving, a circle discussion took place. The discussion was intended to address how people of colour can take up space and reverse the lack of representation in the movement and wellness industry. Most importantly, the conversation was meant to be open and unrestrained. Starr hopes that the conversation acted as a catalyst for participants to discuss how they’re feeling with the people in their lives.
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The workshop ended with Starr’s collage workshop. As she did with the series at the art gallery, Starr led participants through a walking meditation, allowing them to find pieces that spoke to them and create something there. The creative portion of the workshop allowed participants to express and liberate themselves.
“I've seen firsthand how movement has helped my creation. It's just a way of accessing a part of your mindfulness that maybe sitting still might not do for many people… I think it's really important to mesh these worlds because it's often implied that they're so different but they're actually very similar. In creating sequences for classes, it's a collage of different movements and they might not always look the same,” Starr explaining.
Approaching creativity through the medium of collage is one of the many ways in which this workshop made itself accessible. Unlike other forms of art, collage is not very intimidating for the non-artist and allowed individuals to express themselves with lesser concern about artistic skill.
Like several other Goodbodyfeel classes, this workshop had a sliding scale in place to reduce the financial barrier for participants. The studio also has clean clothes for participants to use and provides mats and props. By removing these obstacles for participants, the studio is hoping that no one is priced out of accessing mindful movement.
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“I've been practicing some form of mindful movement since 2000 and… it's been a really big part of my healing journey. And so since moving to Hamilton and starting this community, my aim is to have as many people as possible benefit and have access to the transformative effects of mindful movement.
Why does the movement community need to even address race and representation? Well, because it's incredibly beneficial to mental health and well-being and everybody deserves access to it,” Lamarr said.
At the end of the day, the most important part of Movement Melanin Expression was the formation of community through movement. Starr and Lamarr intend to continue the class so that people of colour can continue to take up space in the movement industry and discuss more ways to break down the barriers.
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If you’re an avid reader of the Silhouette, then you’d know our annual rendition of Sex and the Steel City, much like the paper itself, has evolved quite a bit over the past couple of years.
Putting together this year’s sex-positive publication meant embracing the diverse ideas around sexuality, love and health. It’s about creating a non-judgemental space where experiences can be shared, identities are expressed and art can be enjoyed.
Through Sex and the Steel City we were also able to explore Hamilton’s history, challenge the issues our communities’ face and open eyes to future possibilities with passion and dedication.
Every word and visual in this issue is also a reflection of the privileged position we, as a publication, are in to unapologetically express ourselves. A position that has been continuously denied to people historically and as of late.
For this reason our cover includes re-creations of stills from the recently discovered film Something Good - Negro Kiss. Directed by William Selig in 1898, the film depicts the earliest on-screen kiss between two Black stage entertainers and challenges the racist caricature prevalent in popular culture. In the 29-second silent film, Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown convey undeniable expression of love, pleasure and happiness.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="218" gal_title="Something Good - Nego Kiss"]
We hope to continue the conversation around barriers that continue to marginalize identities today while also celebrating everything good they have to share.
Sex and the Steel City is a hopeful expression that love will prevail.
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By: Andrew Mrozowski
Concluding McMaster’s Pride Week, the Pride Community Centre in conjunction with Queer Outta Hamilton, put on one of Hamilton’s only open stage drag show at downtown’s Sous Bas. With the turnout being so large that a line extended down the block, this was truly a night that people were going to be talking about for a while.
As I went down the stairs into the club, I was immediately met with the loud chatter of hundreds of people in a dimly lit room. The music played so loud that I could feel it vibrating up from the floor into my bones. Host Troy Boy Parks, a Guelph-based drag queen who knows how to control a crowd, stood on a single runway connected off the main stage.
Drag herstory begins in the mid 1900s during a time when homosexuality was prosecuted. Drag was used to escape the harsh realities of being an outcast of society. Only being practiced at clubs within the back corners of cities, queens would perform allowing the LGBTQ+ community to play with the concept of gender and sexuality in a time when they were not allowed to do so.
[spacer height="20px"]Drag was also the community’s reaction to freedom of speech during a time when it was hard to come by. Instead of picketing, they chose to stand up in an elegant way, a way that people would talk about for years to come.
As the LGBTQ+ community became more socially accepted within the world, so did the concept of drag. Present day drag has evolved much more than its predecessor. Modern drag is very much an entertainment-driven performance in which a person dresses extravagantly to amplify overexaggerated male or female characteristics. This along with the rise of drag in popular culture, through the reality TV show, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, made drag culture mainstream.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”, hosted by world-renowned queen RuPaul Charles, enables drag queens from around the United States to compete in various challenges to prove they have what it takes to be America’s Next Drag Superstar. Concluding it’s tenth season in 2018, along with four seasons of an all-star spin-off series, RuPaul has given queens, both amateur and professional, a platform to notoriety within not only the queer community, but society as well.
[spacer height="20px"]As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I know that it can be hard to find your own identity, especially in a society that is not always accepting of others. Some queens do drag because it is their way to express their feminine side in a society that prohibits showing that.
Queens also gain a lot of confidence being on stage performing in front of a crowd with a group of people appreciating them and what they do. This is in part thanks to the success of RuPaul’s Drag Race creating a positive look at drag culture. Confidence on stage can add to the person’s own confidence as they feel validated that others appreciate their craft.
Other queens look at it as creative medium. As a man who has only dressed up as a grandmother once for Halloween, I will be the first to tell you that make up is hard to do! Makeup takes a lot of artistic skill to achieve the look you have in your mind, and some queens find this self-expression to be a form of art in itself.
[spacer height="20px"]Every queen has a different take on how they want to deliver their drag extravaganza and what it should contribute to the LGBTQ+ community. Whether it be comedic relief to take the edge off or a rally to vote against a pumpkin president, drag will always be the first voice heard from the community and will always be ever-present.
Standing amongst hundreds of chattering people in a dimly lit room, my eyes flutter back and forth from the stage to the people surrounding me. Watching queen after queen putting the bass in their walk down the runway, I ponder on how we got to where we are today. If you asked me a year ago what I thought about drag, I would have said I don’t care for it.
Enter all my friends, both gay and straight, who didn’t stop raving about drag, I decided to give it a chance. What I ended up seeing was members of a shared community who didn’t care how others looked at them.
I saw members of a shared community who have so much love for one another. RuPaul ends each of her shows by asking contestants: “if you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” These are words that constantly flow through the LGBTQ+ community.
Drag creates a sense of belonging and safety because you are in an environment amongst people who feel the same way as you. At a drag show, I feel safe because I know that the people around me will always care and support me, as I would them.
Although Pride Week at McMaster must ‘sashay away’ for another year, the progress the community makes will stay and continue to be built upon.
To the future generations of queer youth coming to McMaster, I say this: do not be afraid to be who you are and share it with the rest of the world. Sometimes it seems unfair but be proud. Stand up and fight for what you believe in, but also remember to have fun too.
Be it through drag or another medium that may rise in the years to come, there will always be an audience there for you. To close with the immortal words of Mama Ru, ‘Good luck and don’t fuck it up!’
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By Anastasia Gaykalova
The Silhouette sat down with the creative mind behind Zander, Matthew Alexander, and Foreign Waves International’s designer duo, Michael St. Jean and Kadeem Jarrett, during Supercrawl weekend to talk about the Hamilton-based streetwear brands’ take on street fashion, their creative process and friendly competition.
Photo C/O Samuel Letnik and Matthew Alexander
The Sil: How would you describe your brand in three words?
Jarrett: Wavy. Free. Real.
Alexander: Efficient. Athletic. Useful.
The Sil: Why did you start designing?
St. Jean: We wanted to create a brand that everyone around the world can rock and be represented, hence the name Foreign Waves International.
Jarrett: We printed a whole bunch of t-shirts, because we came up with a name and people loved it, and we said ‘let’s go full throttle’ and it’s been three years rocking and we’ve done a lot within the three years and we’re proud.
Alexander: I was really into art and just being artistic, touching as many mediums as possible: painting, photography [and] graphic design. I was getting into graphic design and slowly realized that it is not the career path that I necessarily wanted to take, and clothing ended up being it…I love clothing and it just fell into my life with the combination of the different things I was into.
The Sil: What is your creative process when designing?
St. Jean: That’s a hard thing to think of still…Our creative process is usually we see something and we think ‘yo, what can we do differently, what can we do to change it, how can we make it better’…And then we talk about our design with each other and decide what will work better, what colour scheme we’re going to use. Sometimes we go to places like [Supercrawl], this would be an example [of] where we gain inspiration.
Alexander: It’s a lot of internal brainstorming, just thinking out concepts in my head whenever I get influenced by certain things. Drawing out influence from everything and anything I possibly can. It could be anything from other designers or something a person says to interactions with my friends.
The Sil: Do either of you draw inspiration from other brands? If so, which and why?
Jarrett: In the beginning, yeah, but now it is more what we feel, what comes from our hearts. That’s what designs are based off of. But in the beginning, it’s just [like how] musicians look up to one musician, want to sound like them. And then they establish their own sounds.
St. Jean: Nike’s a big one, New Regime.
Jarrett: Shout-out to New Regime.
Alexander: I guess, when I first started getting into clothing and streetwear, the list of brands I would’ve listed then is completely different from now. Now I’m more into high fashion designer brands. I just feel like the designs and the materials and the backstory of the different brands and concepts are a lot more thought out. Few brands I could list now that I’m really into would probably be…Ader Error, Undercover, Palace, which is more on a streetwear, skatewear level.
The Sil: What makes a good fashion show?
Jarrett: When everything is running smoothly, [when] music [and] designs are on point.
St. Jean: I think there’s got to be a wild factor.
Jarrett: Exactly, in our day and age everyone does a fashion show. When you’re on a runway, add a little bit of something, add a little bit of art, add performances, add anything like that, you know…Be as free as you can. That’s what the brand represents. Be you and embrace what you wear every single day.
Alexander: I think outfits, for sure. I know for myself, I really like to add something more. [W]ith our latest fashion show we had more theatrics going on. It’s more than just outfits and models walking down a runway. It was like an actual show.
The Sil: What’s more important, expressing yourself or catering to an audience?
St. Jean: I think you have to have a mix of both. We want to express ourselves, but we want to make sure we are catering to the audience as well. So, we want to be like ‘I really like this, but I want to make sure my people are going to like it too’.
Alexander: I think, especially in terms of creative level, expressing yourself matters most at the end of the day. Where it gets tricky is on the business level of things, where, yeah, you do have to make money and you have to invest a lot of time, effort and money into certain projects, so you do have to cater to the audience. So I like to find a little bit of both.
The Sil: What are some challenges of the fashion industry and how to best deal with them?
St. Jean: One big thing is manufacturers. We’re a very small brand, so when it comes to manufacturing clothing, they want big orders, like you know, a hundred pieces, two hundred pieces. We’re very small, very local, so we don’t order that much. That’s why our clothes are very limited…So, it kind of leaves a little bit of exclusivity to our brand as well.
Alexander: I guess a big one right now would be finances. I know for me and my team, we have a lot of ideas and projects that we like to do, but it’s a hurdle we have to cross where we can’t financially make it happen. And that’s just a process of continuing to work and grow as a brand and building those resources in order to make those projects happen.
The Sil: What does street style mean to you?
St. Jean: Expressing yourself.
Jarrett: Yeah, exactly, expressing yourself. Streetwear is growing now. It used to be small brands like Stussy, Primitive, but now, big time designers are making streetwear. Like, Gucci, and stuff, they’re all making hoodies with “Gucci” on it, and t-shirts and stuff. So, streetwear is literally taking over the world, and everyone loves streetwear.
Alexander: I love street style. Every single day I think of an outfit and I just love putting together clothes and showcasing how I’m feeling that day with the colour palettes and the theme of certain pieces I’m wearing… Street style is growing and it’s awesome to see other people getting more and more into it… especially in Hamilton.
The Sil: Since both brands share a similar style, do you consider each other competitors?
St. Jean: For us, personally, we don’t look at things as competition because we want to see everybody succeed, so we actually know Zander personally from showing support to each other. So, when we’ve done pop-ups, they’re there and when they’ve done pop-ups, we’re there. And we promote each other, so we don’t look at it as competition. We look at it more as a community and we should all work together.
Alexander: Yeah, I 100 per cent agree. I guess, back in the day when streetwear brands weren’t as many, maybe like 6 to 7 years ago, it would’ve been on a more competitive level, but as of right now, I think brands that are succeeding and growing together as a community. If everyone’s doing well, that only makes the community better at the end of the day.
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Sophia Topper
Staff Reporter
I’m standing outside the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, gorging myself on a chocolate-covered Nanaimo bar when I feel a strange sensation at the back of my head. I pause, and once again I feel my hair being tugged. I turn around, and I’m suddenly face to face with a woman, who is currently stroking the ends of my hair.
“Never cut your hair,” she offers, as if caressing strangers is perfectly normal. She tells me she’s a hair dresser and continues, “I’m telling all my girls to grow their hair out now. Long thick hair is going to be big this spring!” I’m shocked, and as she continues to run her fingers through my almost waist length hair, I offer a confused “thank you?”
I’m not as surprised as one might expect. At the time, I had extremely thick, long hair. I was used to my friends asking to braid it, and even mere acquaintances discussing my hair with me, a topic that interested them far more than me. A few months later, I was approached again by two women who stroked my hair and demanded that I never cut it.
I didn’t listen, of course. I cut it all off after getting fed up by the fourteen hours it took to dry, and its propensity for getting caught in doors, sweaters and, most glamorously, my armpits. When I returned to school after the big chop, nearly eighty people commented, most with barely disguised disappointment. My hair raises some very strong opinions, and it isn’t even very interesting.
My personal space violations were nothing compared to what people of colour face every day. Living on the ethnically homogeneous Vancouver Island, my friend Tokoni regularly had people ask to touch her braids, and for anyone sporting a ‘fro, the intrusions are even more frequent.
Why do people think that hair is immune to the keep-your-hands-to-yourself rule we all had drilled into us in kindergarten? Why does anyone even want to touch it? Hair is such a contentious issue in society, from the choice to leave it natural for black women, to covering it up for Muslim women to growing it out for men. When I cut my hair, I even had someone ask “so does this mean you’re gay now?”
Hair is another way to signal our identity to the world, but unlike throwing on a Grateful Dead tee, growing it out or cutting it off takes a lot more commitment. It goes beyond just aesthetics, and how much or how little time we put into it shows a lot about how we feel. Just look at the difference between the hairstyle of choice during the first week of school, all clean and styled, and during exams, when greasy ponytails prevail.
Hair is a method of expression, and identifying what niche one belongs to. To end with the words of Timbuk3, “how well do we use our freedom to choose the illusions we create?”
