Hello Trent students! My name is Zoe Litow and I am running in the Spring 2022 Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) Elections pursuing the role of President. I am currently in my fifth year completing a joint major in Sociology and Gender Studies. I am exceptionally passionate about reproductive justice, disability justice, student rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy, Indigenous sovereignty, and grassroots organizing.
I am confident that I have the skills to represent concerns from students about issues on our campus considering my previous experience. When starting my post-secondary experience I had the opportunity to engage in student politics and advocacy on a larger scale than my hometown and high school allowed. For the past three years, I have worked at the TCSA part-time as a Brand Ambassador and a Board Secretary, and most recently I am completing my term as the VP of Campaigns and Equity. My employment has not only allowed me to form strong relationships within the association but with the membership. This is something I will uphold if elected as President.
In the past year through my role as the VP of Campaigns and Equity I have accomplished the following and much more:
So, what is my platform? First and foremost, my goal is to ensure students come first. This means returning the focus on students and away from putting the wants and needs of the administration first. This means continuing and expanding the initiatives that the Association has been working on over the past year. Moreover, it includes advocating on behalf of students to Trent University Administration and actively addressing concerns of the membership.
The TCSA needs a President who is dedicated to student advocacy. If elected I will:
My top priority is making sure the student’s voice is the loudest on campus. I will walk the line between fearless advocacy and diplomacy to make sure everyone's voice is heard. I promise to always bring dedication and passion to what I do. Remember to vote 'Zoe Litow-Daye' for President this election season.
IG: Zoeelizabethh
Email: Zoelitowdaye@trentu.ca
My name is Holly Naraine, I am a fourth-year Psychology and Women’s Studies major running to be your next VP of Health & Wellness. If elected to this position, I will champion for the mental, physical, and sexual health of all students. I want to encourage all students to voice their health and wellness concerns to me so that I can help create a campus environment that fosters healthy living for all.
Nutrition and Fitness
I want to collaborate with the Athletics centre, Trent Queer Collective, and the Centre for Women and Trans People to create inclusive fitness spaces for Women and LGBTQ+ students. My goal is to reduce social barriers and anxiety to accessing the athletic centre. Whether that be a gym buddies program, Women and LGBTQ+ fitness classes, or developing an intro to the athletics centre program. I want to begin a partnership with Kawartha Food Share, Trent Gardens, and Trent Food Services to start an on-campus food bank for all students to access. Presently, the TCSA offers a grocery assistance program that provides students with grocery gift cards, however, these are only valid at select stores. I would love to offer students a choice between President’s Choice and Compliments brand grocery store gift cards.
Mental Health
Although we have various peer support programs, a BIPOC and an LGBTQ+ counsellor, it is not enough to support students. I will fight for a specialised psychotherapist and psychiatrist with a background in working with individuals who have complex mental health issues. I want to partner with the various peer support groups on campus to create a mental health peer support group. Additionally, I would love to sit down with Peer Support and Consent at Trent to work on developing a new support program that focuses on supporting peers through various intimate relationship struggles (i.e., setting boundaries, sexual communication, breaking up, coming out, etc.).
Sexual and Reproductive Health
I plan to continue the Wrapped & Ready program that offers free condoms, lube, and dental dams to all students. I would like to expand this program by including access to Plan B and pregnancy tests. Additionally, I want to work on creating a sex education campaign that includes safe LGBTQ+ sex and sex toy care. Finally, I want to bring free high quality and reusable menstrual products to campus as an alternative to the low-quality cardboard tampons and Maxi Thin pads (i.e., Tampax, DivaCup, Always, and Country Cloth Creations).
COVID-19
As the pandemic continues, I promise to advocate for the safety of all Trent students. This will include lobbying for more accessible educational options for immunocompromised students, students with disabilities, those who live with and work in high-risk individuals and settings, those who are awaiting COVID testing and those in isolation. Regardless of a global pandemic, I believe that all students are entitled to accessible and flexible education. I will continue to push for Trent's administration to include more student voices in developing future Trent Forward policies and plans.
Your friendly neighbourhood Aimée here, and I am running to be your VP of Campaigns and Equity this year. I'm in my second year majoring in Political Studies and English. I proudly identify as a biracial Filipino French Canadian, and a lesbian. I'm certain that experience with planning campaigns, design, and knowledge on intersectional concerns are essential to effectively serving you. I also have significant knowledge within the realms of advocacy, rallying and policy writing.
Campus Security Call to Action:
I plan to pick up right where I left off, challenging Campus Security and Trent Admin to rise to the occasion of the call for accountability. Students who are BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, Women, and disabled deserve to feel safe and respected on campus. If you or a friend have ever experienced discrimination from members of Campus Security, this campaign is meant for you. I am compiling a report concerning the student climate regarding interactions with Campus Security. This is in hopes to achieve accountability regarding incidents of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. Once the Qualtrics survey is online and the Sticky Note demonstration is active around campus, this is your opportunity to make your voice heard, anonymously or on the record. After the report is compiled I aim to write a letter and begin a long discussion with Campus Security and Trent Admin to enhance training, as well as dialogue with Trent’s diverse student body. Trent University is responsible for keeping all students safe, not merely those who they choose to. This campaign is scheduled to begin Feb. 28th, and I hope to continue it into next year if you choose to vote for me.
Anti-Racism & Anti-Colonialism:
I hope to continue creating passive and active resources on subjects of Anti-Racism & Anti-Colonialism to spark dialogues and educate allies. I understand that it may be difficult to have a conversation regarding race when you haven’t necessarily the language nor background to work with, these pamphlets and presentations are meant to help educate the student body to further understand one another. You may have seen some of my pamphlets floating around campus discussing topics such as ‘Performative Allyship vs. Productive Allyship’ and ‘Diversity, Inclusivity, and Equity: Terminology’. Or perhaps you have attended my presentation on ‘Power and Privilege’ discussing what white privilege is within a Canadian context and understanding bias blindness. I believe this form of education outside of an academic context is essential to encourage conversations in an ever changing political climate.
Intersectional Celebration:
In collaboration with the BIPOC Organizer, Queer Students Commissioner, and Racialized Students Commissioner, I hope to create events that celebrate intersectional individuals to foster a sense of unity and provide opportunities to meet one another during a time that can feel so isolating. I believe that placing identity at the forefront and celebrating what makes our culture, heritage, and what makes us unique can help foster a greater sense of community.
Hey my name is Shay Surujnarain and I am a current fourth year student in Gender and Social justice studies running to be the VP of University and College Affairs. For this term my intentions are to be able to provide students a meaningful college and University life as well as support their academic careers, to do this I will:
Bring Awareness to College life: For a lot of new students or those who are unfamiliar with their college affiliation can often miss out on opportunities for success and support. I intend to bring to life what each college stands for by actively communicating with college principals and academic supports within these colleges to provide students with information and be more successful and confident throughout their university career.
Connecting with College Cabinets: Alongside the fantastic Colleges we have College Cabinets, these cabinets advocate and are governed by the students, as a previous Otonoabee College Cabinet VP I can see a lot of potential in being able to provide cabinets with supports when it comes to running events and creating meaningful collaborative opportunities for all Trent student life.
Communication between Professor and Students: In September of 2022 I will be officially graduated with the exception of taking courses to leverage my degree, with that being said I have experiences in understanding how to communicate with professors and have knowledge in how communication between students and professors are very important. I intend to be available to be there for students so that their needs are being taken care of academically, this can look like if a student has a concern or questions about courses or the course their in, I can provide support in being a liaison for students to be heard and taken care of. This is not limited to providing academic supports like information about SAS, writing workshops, understanding the different disciplines and getting one on one support with professors!
Student club support and recognition: Here at Trent we have such an array of student clubs, and each one so different. I hope to be able to provide support to many clubs or groups whether that looks at helping with outreach support within the Nogojiwanong community or simply being a support and creating a bridge between the TCSA and student clubs, I hope to connect students with these clubs and help where I can to create better university social settings.
Since joining college Cabinet in my third year and becoming VP of OC Cabinet in my fourth year I have learned so much about what it means to be a student. I have learned that student life is a roller coaster and that I myself am continuously learning about what it means to be a student leader at Trent. I have learnt that we all go through different experiences throughout university and that it is important to be mindful of that. I have learned that there are SO many groups and supports for almost every problem a student can face, but sometimes students are unaware of them. I want to be able to provide students with the information they need to be successful both within academia and their social lives, as well as ensuring that these supports have what they need to be successful for our students.
Email: shaniasurujnarain@trentu.ca
Candidate Goals:
As 2021-22 Mature & Transfer Students Commissioner, Angela:
Candidate Qualifications:
As a Mature, Transfer and Part-time Student herself, Angela knows first-hand the unique needs of these overlapping student groups. She is currently a fourth-year undergraduate student in Sociology - Crime & Legal Studies - Psychology. Her post-graduate interests include Social Policy, Criminology and Law.
Special Student Integration Considerations:
Mature, Transfer and Part-time students may have family and employment commitments that create academic barriers at Trent, including illness or emergency care.
Mature, Transfer and Part-time students may have social and networking limitations that create academic barriers at Trent, including unavailability and isolation.
Fair and accurate transfer credit assessment is critical to Mature, Transfer and Part-time students as it can have a significant impact on academic direction and duration.
My name is Harshit Jain, I am a 2nd-year student majoring in computer science, and I am running to be your next Off-Campus Commissioner. Having good leadership skills, I have gained valuable insight on how to organize, plan and execute my ideas. my goal would be to help students to solve their issues regarding housing problems.
If elected, I will advocate for a more equitable and accessible experience for students by focusing on:
1. Guidance
If elected, I will work to support students who are looking for off-campus housing by providing them verified resources, guiding them about the common house scams that happen with students.
Specially, these scams take place with new international students as they are unaware of the process. So, I would ensure that international students are provided with proper resources and support on finding off-campus accommodation. So, students don’t need to spend money on temporary accommodation such as hotels or Airbnb’s.
I will work with student union staff and elected officials to provide the help and provide them with legal options with which they can go forward.
2. Student Engagement
I want students to feel connected socially regardless of living off-campus- to achieve that I will develop Discussion groups, feedback pages and arrange group activities.
3. Transportation
Improve Peterborough Transit services for university students and work on making it more accessible during non-peak hours.
Thank you for reading my platform! I would love to be your next Off-Campus Commissioner and will work hard to ensure that every student has a memorable living experience!
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or ideas you may have!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hj_172002/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hj172002
Email: harshitjain@trentu.ca
Hello Fellow Trent Students,
My name is Craig Stoddart. I am a second year Business Administration Student interested in being your On Campus Commissioner. Following is some information about myself and my reasons for wanting to hold this position.
Community Involvement
I was fortunate to be a part of various groups and clubs during my high school years. In Grade 12, I was President of Student Council and developed event organizational skills and enjoyed working closely with others. This year at Trent, I have enjoyed the opportunity to be on the Novice Rowing Team. It was my first experience of being a member of a tightly knit community at Trent, but it also served as a gateway to other groups throughout the university. I’ve observed that there is overlap of club involvement and sport involvement at Trent. This to me demonstrates that Trent students are active and like to be involved. We are lucky to have a small enough university to be able to recognize familiar faces at restaurants, parks and other places in our community. I will look for ways to continue to build this sense of community with students on campus and especially amongst those who are living off campus.
Listening to My Peers
Any effective and respected leader understands that the best way to help those being represented is to listen to their input. I believe strongly in this and enjoy meeting and talking with people whether it is on the bus, at the bar or just visiting a friend of a friend. I have heard a variety of ideas and attended an array of group get togethers in my second year at Trent and can clearly say that there are very exciting communities both on campus and off campus.
Answering Questions about On Campus Living
Living on campus with great roommates, I have been able to learn from them and to share my knowledge of typical concerns such as how the Transit system works, what the different dining halls have to offer and where we can go outdoors to play a game of soccer or hockey on a Saturday afternoon. Networking to familiarize ourselves with our community is a big part of the fun of university life.
Informing Students about Opportunities in Peterborough
Part of the university adventure is finding fun spots to go on adventures with friends, and Peterborough has a lot of cool locations. We are all now pros at working and collaborating online, but it can still be challenging to feel a part of the Trent community if taking courses online. If elected, I will strive to make people more aware of the Peterborough area as it has a lot of great mental health break areas to enjoy. I would strive to have events organized that would invite and welcome not only groups of friends but also individuals who would like to meet new people.
I would appreciate your support by voting for me for On Campus Commissioner.
Thank you,
Craig Stoddart
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