Hi all,
Long time no chat, and I really mean it this time! Happy new year, new semester, and happy Black History Month!
OUSA’s had a busy start, and we’ve got an even busier couple weeks ahead of us. We started the year by submitting our recommendations for this budget cycle, highlighting pressing student concerns related to sector sustainability, student financial aid, mental health, and gender-based and sexual violence.
However, shortly after that was submitted, we headed straight into a provincial election! As we eagerly watched the election play out, OUSA was disappointed that post-secondary education had an overwhelming lack of mentions across party lines – despite the precarious state that our sector is in. With that being said, I hope that all of you reading this took the opportunity to cast your ballot at some point over the last couple of weeks. Congratulations to all those who won seats in their ridings, as well as to the Progressive Conservative government for their re-election. We look forward to continuing our conversations and maintaining our working relationship with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
Alongside the provincial election, it’s also the season where student leaders across the province are campaigning. Congratulations to all those who have been newly elected, and best of luck to all those still running! I would like to point you to some of our past OUSA Presidents’ articles; Jessica Look’s Breaking the Glass Ceiling, and Eunice Oladejo’s This Is Your Time: The Importance of Black Representation in Student Government. These are pieces that I know have personally resonated with and inspired many of my peers, discussing experiences and perspectives of marginalization and representation in student government, as well as some of their takeaways from their times in this role. Election season can be a time where these topics are top of mind, and it provides us with an opportunity to continue striving for a more inclusive, representative, and safe environment on our campuses and within our student governments.
We also managed to make it down to four of our member schools in January! Thank you to the Students’ General Association at Laurentian, the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association, and the Trent-Durham Student Association (alongside our pals at CASA) for hosting us these past few months – it’s very sad to think that these may be some of the last visits of my term. We also made a return to McMaster for their inaugural Breaking Barriers Conference, an event aimed at supporting women and gender-diverse folks on their journey to leadership. We were able to present to students on OUSA’s advocacy, and I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with some other current and former student leaders. Congratulations to Maya Hobbs for hosting such a successful and important conference, and thank you for having us!
OUSA is also currently looking for students to write about issues affecting their campus and local community in the 2025 edition of Habitats: Students in their Municipalities. You can read the 2024 version here. Those interested can email [email protected] by March 5th, 2025 with a self-introduction and the issue you would like to write about!
Last but not least, we are gearing up for our 61st General Assembly, hosted by WUSA from March 6th-9th. Delegates will be debating, editing, and (hopefully) ratifying our policy papers on Technology-Enabled Learning, as well as A Comprehensive Access Strategy. We will also be bringing forward OUSA’s new bylaw, as well as our Strategic Plan for 2025-2029, which lays out our strategic and organizational vision for the next 4 years.
Phew! I think that just about covers it all - thank you to those who read this far. I hope you all had a restful reading week, and are staying strong throughout both elections and midterms. Chat soon!
With love and care,
Michelle