Hello friends! Happy Pride and Indigenous History Month!
I hope you are soaking up the sun while it’s been out. Welcome to the first of many updates to catch you up on what OUSA has been doing!
To begin, I would like to thank my predecessor, Jessica Look, for the warm welcome into this role and for being a great role model. Congratulations to you and past SC for a successful year!
June has been a productive start so far. We held our annual Strategic Planning Conference at the Blue Mountains where we decided our advocacy and organizational priorities. They are:
OUSA’s Advocacy Priorities:
- Housing and Transit
- Mental Health (with a racial equity focus)
- Food Insecurity
- Sector Sustainability
OUSA’s Organizational Priorities:
- Restructuring General Assembly
- Bilingualism
- Communication and Outreach
- Strengthening Steering Committee Transition
We also determined dates for our important events such as Fall and Spring General Assembly, Student Advocacy Conference, Partners in Higher Education, etc…so stay tuned! Besides that, we baked cookies, explored the Village, and had the power go out early in the morning. It was a busy but fun time, to say the least! Watch the recap video that our Advocacy and Communications Intern, Charlie, put together.
Speaking of the awesome SC, make sure to check out our introduction posts here. For the next few weeks, blogs will be released each Tuesday and Thursday!
Our VP Human Resources, Katie, attended the Mental Health Engagement Session with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities on behalf of OUSA. Katie was able to offer the student perspective on how the Ministry can enhance its support for the mental health and wellbeing of post-secondary students. We’re keeping an eye out to see what will come from these sessions, and we appreciate being invited to participate in this consultation.
Additionally, our ED, Malika, spoke on behalf of OUSA in support of the Safe Night Out Act tabled by MPP Peggy Sattler. This is a measure to proactively address gender-based and sexual violence in post-secondary communities by strengthening policies in establishments that serve alcohol. Take a look at the press conference here.
This past week, we welcomed the newly appointed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, David Wai. We look forward to meeting with Deputy Minister Wai next month to discuss student concerns.
In Pride month spirits, we released our second policy paper approved at the Spring General Assembly 2023, Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ Inclusion! Congratulations to the authors and editors for their hard work.
Last but not least, we MOVED! Goodbye to sweet 26 Soho Street, and hello to 33 Bloor Street East! Thank you for all the wonderful memories that this space has held for decades. It is truly a bittersweet moment. Onto the next chapter with many more to come…
What a month! Look forward to seeing what we do next. Enjoy July and see you at the end of it.
Talk soon and take care,
Vivian :)