Sheila Shahrokhi
Why are you running for President?
I was part of John Jupiter’s slate for the last two years and we wanted to create a lot of change and had a lot of ideas, but there was a little disorganization with the campaign. I really respect John and he has a good heart but we didn’t see eye-to-eye on some of the issues and I decided I wanted create my own slate with peer leaders from across campus, just for the betterment of the student population.
How did you find the peer leaders?
They’re all really amazing and passionate about it and care about the students, and reading their platform sometimes really gets to me because it shows that they care about their students. It’s a genuine concern for the students, which is good because we need a student union that is accountable to the students. We really need transparency for the students, I think that is important
What did you learn from working with John?
Working with John, I realized the importance of organization in any campaign. Strategy is also very important and I always think two steps ahead because most likely, the opposition is doing so as well. I want to focus on our campaign and make it as positive as possible, you know — stay away from any attack campaign as possible. Even with our slate name, YU First, it’s a very strong brand. Any student walking past will know it, and any commuter student will know it and care. We really want to break down student apathy.
Have you been involved in college councils or YFS?
No, I haven’t been involved in college councils or YFS previously. My whole undergraduate experience has been with the Student Community & Leadership Development department. Basically what we do is help endorse student spirit and help break down student apathy. In the end, the YFS has a budget and it’s made out of student fees, and I really believe that the students should have a say on where it goes.
What makes you different from other candidates?
I am really passionate for the students. The way I have been working the campaign is doing what the students want in the end. So any changes we do make in the upcoming years it will be done throug referendum as students deserve a say and I feel like that is very important. Every student I have spoken to I have spoken to them personally, because in the end this is all for the students. The students are putting us in these positions, so we need to make them feel special.
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
I want to make the student union a place that students can go to to ask questions. I want to make it a place that everyone knows everyone, with an open door policy without appointments. I want to have our faces seen, but I also want students in our offices working with our policies instead of giving out flyers.
What is your main platform?
I want to change the electoral process and change it to an electronic vote. Most other universities use that besides York, and I think there are a lot of advantages for [electronic] votes, such as accessibility. It also saves a good amount of money, as it costs money to pay all those involved in the polls. We could use that money for different student initiatives, like an overnight study program at the Student Centre.
In past years, there have been comments from students about creating a 24-hour programs at Scott and Steacie libraries, but I believe an overnight study program in the student centre is realistic and can be done.
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Aerissa Roy-Dupuis
Why did you decide to run for VP Campaigns & Advocacy?
I started studying social work here about four years ago and as I came to study social work, I started wanting to work with people individually and do group therapy. But as I came to understand how social problems are created by institutions and policies, I wanted to shift my gears and find a new way of doing things.
What issues are you’re going to work on and advocate for?
I think there are a number of issues affecting the undergraduate student population at the moment. I would say the top is mental health. I think people’s mental health needs are not being addressed on campus and that needs to change.
I also think food prices are way too expensive on campus and I want to do something about that as well. Other concerns are people having trouble navigating the bureaucracy and getting their questions answered satisfactorily. We’d like to help change that sort of thing for them as well.
Specifically, if you take a look at counselling and disability services, they operate under a really restrictive mandate that doesn’t really help students. People want to access these services, but the wait time is too long and people feel their needs aren’t being met.
What we want to do is lobby the administration and work collaboratively with them to work on these student services and make them much more easy for students to work with.
I think we should be working collaboratively with the administration. I don’t think having an adversarial kind of stand with the administration is conducive to us creating the change we want to. I mean, we should be holding them accountable and being critical of them, but at the same time we need to applaud them and praise when they do things properly. Change in the system can be done, it’s just a lot of work.
What do you think about this year’s campaigns?
I think there were a lot of good campaigns [this year], but at the same time some of their goals are unrealistic. The CFS’ ultimate goal is zero tuition, which isn’t realistic. They also want to lower tuition, but how do we lower tuition, and in what specific ways should we lower tuition? I think we need to be more direct in our messaging to our students, politicians, and advocacy groups we’re working with. At the end of the day, a simple and concise message gets through a lot better than waving signs around.
How do you set yourself apart from the other candidates?
I set myself apart from the other candidates in that I have a lot of advocacy experience outside of York. I do a lot of outreach work around LGBTQ youth issues. I’ve spoken with social workers and high school students in big auditoriums, I’ve worked with a lot of bureaucrats about these kinds of issues, and I feel like I can translate that passion of working with LGBTQ youth to students. I see a lot of issues that really need to change. I really just want to be that voice for students. That voice that advocates for them and doesn’t stand down.
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Steven Mulholland
Why are you running for VP Equity?
I currently work at the Centre of Human Rights and I am a human rights and equity major. I work with programs about communication, harassment, and I run a student team here on campus called the Bridge Education team and we deal with programs that deal with race, diversity, equity, harassment, and conflict resolution. It’s contained and I want to bring those ideas to a wider York community, I feel like this is the best opportunity to do so.
Do you have any previous experience in student politics?
Not at a university level. But I am a very political person on campus doing varies activities I believe in.
Are you involved in student council or YFS?
I am not a member of any council and I have never been an coordinator to the YFS.
What makes you different from other candidates?
I believe I have the experience in the field of programming and creating events in the field of anti-discrimination and anti-harassment. I worked with the YFS in giving anti-oppression training to all students. I have been studying human rights and equity here at York for the last four years.
I spend most of my spare time working on non-government organizations or working with the Centre for Human Rights. We talk to the community about these issues that are extremely serious, but people don’t want to talk about, like the idea of political correctness about certain issues. I would like to get to the heart of it because each individual student experience is all that matters to them.
They want it to have meaning and it’s a privilege to live in this community as it’s diverse and so vast, and it’s just a matter of talking to people about how they should talk to their peers and friends, and things like not creating a toxic environment for other people.
What do you hope to accomplish if elected?
I think my ultimate goal is to have a York where people are eager to come to and feel like their concerns are being addressed. A place where they can go if they feel like they had a bad experience with peer relations and can talk to a mentor. A place where mentors are available who have a background with dealing with searching for peer solutions, and good at building teams and communities — that’s what I can offer.
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Darryl Gentil
Why did you decide to run for VP Operations?
The main reason I wanted to join is because coming from Glendon and being friends with a few people, I‘ve come to the conclusion there is a gap between York’s Keele and Glendon campuses. I think an interest is in serving myself as a student, personally I get the best in the four years I’ve spent at York University.
Everything I’ve invested into the school, I just want to get the services back to me that will benefit me in some ways. I want to see our student leaders make sure their goals and their efforts are reflected to us. I want to make a change.
What would you change if you are VP Operations?
There are a lot of spending that I disagree with and I think personally there can be a bigger change and investment in our students — that’s my main focus and my main goal. With the budget, I want to create a transparent budget that is there for the community to see. Where our revenue is coming from, how much is being implemented in their services — I want to make sure if students want to Google it, they can. I want them to see how much VP operations is making. I want to make sure any student regardless of their goals, or is just intrigued with the YFS, they should be able to Google the names of their representatives, and make sure they see how much they are making.
I’m going to be more open. So far, coming from Glendon, I’ve seen the policies and I feel there should be a change in our policies and partnerships. It’s a small community, a campus that unites people, which is what I want here [at York]. Regardless, of any college, I feel we should all come as one—that’s where I differ from other candidates. They don’t even know where Glendon is. There is a huge lack of presence.
I want to sit down with every club leader on this campus and I want to talk about issues. I want to make sure I come in as an opportunity for them to voice their opinions about club funding. If we can increase club funding over the next few months, each club will be able to throw their events. With more funding comes bigger and better events, that’s my my focus.
What’s the most important quality a VP Operations should have?
To me, it’s leadership values. Coming from Glendon I think one of my main values is community and a sense of belonging. Many students have been disconnected from that and they haven’t seen change. To me, envisioning my path, future, and goals, and putting them into action is another quality. Coming in as a leader who knows and wants to see change, and listen to the students and be the voice of the students is what I’m looking forward to.
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Saikrishna Cherla
Why did you want to run for VP Campus Life?
A lot of my experience at York, especially with my involvement, has had everything to do with campus life whether it’s club events, educating commuters about what’s going on at York or getting commuters more involved with the community.
I hate to see 53,000 students who walk in and out of York and then don’t stick around for all the awesome things happening at York. I think one of the main reasons I want to be campus life is so I can bring the commuters back to York and give them a reason to stay.
What is your platform?
Currently, the YFS has major events like Yorkfest, Frost Week, and Multicultural week. I want to hold smaller events. And for the bigger ones, we’d still have Yorkfest and two weeks later, we’d do a small games tournament and the week after we’d do a poker tournament. We’d have weekly tiny things where people can come out and enjoy, rather than spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on huge big budget events.
We can have small events with small prizes that still get the community involved. In terms of the big events that I want to bring to campus in addition to the ones we already have, I want to bring another concert and I also want to facilitate an Oktoberfest, which could include collaboration with Shopsy’s and the Absinthe Pub. I’d offer something to the students that enjoy beer, which is also less expensive.
I would be completely transparent with whatever I’m planning and tell the student population,“Hey this is what I’m planning and let me know what you think. If you guys don’t like them, we’ll scrap them.”
I’d do this either through a listserv or just by talking to students while I’m campaigning. I want to build up as much input as possible. I want to create a database of what students want.
I want to be cost effective in terms of labour and set up. I want to use as much volunteer work as possible to decrease the cost. A lot of students have been saying they want more events and it doesn’t have to cost anything. There are free forms of entertainment. You don’t have to bring in a huge star. We can even throw events like talent shows, which don’t cost anything.
Why should you be VP Campus Life?
I’ve seen many events go wrong and go well. I know how the finer details work and I know how to pull things together very quickly. My strength is adaptability and creativity, especially with planning. I know how to draw things together really quickly when shit happens or when things fall apart. I know how to keep things as smooth as possible and I’m very good at managing volunteers.
What will you change from last year’s VP Campus Life?
Transparency is the first thing I’m going to address. Whatever I decide for my budget, every single thing I spend money on will be put out to the York public because it’s their tuition and it comes from the school. They have a right to know what’s going on.
