Howdy!
My name is Anthony Coulter, and I am the Vice President of University Affairs with the Trent Durham Student Association (TDSA).
So… college and university, what a time. Excluding the many things that are currently happening to “shake up” the normal experience of a post-secondary student, the past few years as an undergraduate student have been some of the best years of my life. Engaging with fellow undergrads has been such a great experience in shaping my beliefs and ideals around student advocacy. Working with OUSA in the past as a co-author and policy analyst, I’m lucky enough now to be part of the SC and help fight for more change.
I’ve studied politics at Trent University for 2.5 years, attended the Fall 2020 OUSA General Assembly (GA), and this year was elected to be the VP of University Affairs at Trent Durham University. During said GA, I co-authored A Comprehensive Access Strategy, and provided feedback to many other sections of other policies. Many of the things I hope to work on with OUSA may relate to the things I study and my previous work experience, but my time working with the TDSA and OUSA will be especially beneficial to my advocacy work.
I plan on advocating on behalf of undergraduate students in Ontario, most specifically on issues regarding OSAP. I truly believe that all students across Ontario have the right to pursue the education of their choice, regardless of their financial status. The Ontario government seems to disagree given the huge slash in funding last year on top of the many other structural changes the program has seen over the last few years. I hope to be able to advocate on behalf of students to try and regain the funding OSAP originally had.