Hello Huron! It has been a busy few months since I first took office as HUCSC President, and it’s hard to believe that the fall semester is almost upon us once again. Over the summer, the entire HUCSC team has been working hard to make this upcoming year the best it can be, and I am very proud of what all portfolios have accomplished. In my role as President, I have taken on a wide variety of tasks, which have often been opportunities for learning and reflection.
One of my earliest priorities was continuing the HUCSC’s advocacy regarding Huron’s proposed changes to its affiliation with Western. As part of this process, I worked closely with the Vice President Student Affairs, and represented student interests at meetings of Huron’s Academic Council, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Board of Governors, as well as in meetings with Administrators. Once the details of this proposal had been finalized, we successfully advocated for a public town hall, that was conducted in June to update Huron students on this proposal.
An additional early priority was Portfolio hiring. During this time, I assisted the other VPs with hiring the members of their portfolios, and also selected the members of the Presidential portfolio. Each position had a range of qualified candidates, and it was awesome to see so many students who were interested in contributing their time and effort to the HUCSC. Through this process, Lexi Magder was hired as Associate to the President, and Leo Soler was hired as Executive Secretary. Both have already proved to be amazing members of the HUCSC team, and I look forward to working with them much more over the coming school year.
The summer has also provided me with an opportunity to connect with different stakeholders around the Huron and Western communities. The HUCSC does not exist in a bubble, and indeed is part of a much larger network of student councils across campus. Working with these other Councils, as well as other stakeholder groups (such as faculty and alumni), is often crucial for progress on many issues. Throughout the summer, I have met regularly with Zamir Fakirani, the President of the USC (Western’s Student Council) as well as the Presidents of King’s and Brescia’s student councils.
I have also been active representing the HUCSC on the floor of the USC’s General Assembly, where I am one of two Huron representatives. Here, as well as in my capacity as a member of the USC’s Governance and Finance Standing Committee, I have been able to provide a Huron perspective on various policies and topics. Additionally, I was elected as a student trustee to the PurpleCare Trust. This body oversees the Student Health and Dental plan, and has also been a window into how insurance works, which is not something I expected to learn about in this job.
One USC-related effort that has been especially important to me has been my efforts to establish a Transport Advocacy Working Group on the USC Council. The working group will consist of Councillors and Students-At-Large, and be will be focused on advocating on students’ transportation needs. This is a topic that is particularly important to me personally, and I hope that this body will be able to accomplish a lot over the next year.
Finally, as the summer has progressed, preparing for the year to come has become an increasingly large priority for me. I have represented the HUCSC at Huron’s SOAR sessions, which has given me a chance to promote the HUCSC to incoming first-year students.
The HUCSC has also been involved in advocacy related to Huron’s return to in-person learning. Like many of you, I am very excited about the coming return to a physical learning environment. However, we must also ensure that the transition is done safely, and that necessary accommodations are provided. To this end, in August I worked with the Student Affairs portfolio to produce a survey to collect data on Huron students’ thoughts about the back-to-campus situation. The results of this survey were presented to the members of the HUCSC’s General Assembly at an August meeting, and informed the recently passed HUCSC stance in favour of the on-campus vaccine mandate.
While the upcoming school year will likely be more “normal” than the last, a true return to normalcy has not yet come. Nevertheless, I am sure that the Huron community will continue to show the resilience and strength that it has shown over the past year. If you’re interested in learning more about anything the HUCSC is doing, or want to get involved please do not hesitate to reach out. I look forward to seeing you all on campus in the fall!
MATTHEW CHASMAR, PRESIDENT
