Hi Huron!
I hope that you all are finding some time to relax after the chaos of the exam period. This semester has been a busy one for all of council, and the Student Affairs portfolio has been no exception. Here is a quick rundown of some of the work that we did during this term.
September
In September, our team ran a used book sale to raise funds for the Woodland Cultural Centre in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. The Woodland Cultural Centre is an organization based out of the former Mohawk Institute (one of the two residential schools that Huron has historic ties to) that works to preserve Indigenous cultural practices and move towards Truth and Reconciliation. In conjunction with selling Orange Shirts out of our merchandise store, our fundraiser earned just under $1000.
October & november
I along with the Communications and Events portfolios hired additional members to my team, namely a new Wellness Associate and Equity Commissioner. I am super excited to see what both Sana and Jayden do in their respective roles over the coming months!
Additionally, another project that you may have seen from us this term is our Movember Men’s Mental Health video, where some male students and faculty discussed their relationships with mental health and how they think the conversation round men’s mental health can be pushed forward. This was a destigmatization initiative, and it had an overall good reception! I’d like to give a huge thank you to all of those who participated for being vulnerable with us and contributing to the conversation.
throughout the semester
Throughout the entire semester and since the summer, another key project that I have been working on alongside the Equity team has been our Gender-Based and Sexual Violence Policy Paper. This has entailed thorough research and discussion within our team about what the current landscape around safety and gender-based violence looks like on Huron’s campus, as well as looking towards viable solutions based on other campuses and national frameworks. These will culminate in a series of Principles, Concerns, and Recommendations intended for both the HUCSC and Huron administration to implement to make students safer on and off-campus.
upcoming
As for what is on the horizon for next term, we will be launching a survey and consultations to help inform the recommendations made in our Gender-Based and Sexual Violence Policy Paper and ensure that they are in line with Huron students’ experiences with the topic. We will then start work on our next policy paper project, the Wellness Policy Paper.
Additionally, we will be launching some guides to help you navigate some sometimes-difficult areas of life as a student, including a Wellness guide with an accompanying men’s mental health toolkit, and an Academic Policy guide to help you figure out how to advocate for yourself in different areas of academic policy like appeals. We will also be looking to do some new programming initiatives, so stay tuned!
If you have any questions about any of the work described above, or want to chat about an idea you have that you think would fit within Student Affairs, just send me an email at vpstudentaffairs@myhuron.ca.
Wishing you all a safe and happy winter break and looking forward to seeing you all in the new year!
EMILY POIRIER, VP Student Affairs
