When Ben Du lost his bid for AMS President last March, he wasn’t sure what the rest of his time at UBC would look like.
Du, now a fifth-year human geography and urban studies student, first got involved in the AMS in 2020 as a student-at-large in the Operations Committee. Before he knew it, Du was the AMS' VP administration for the the 2022/23 academic year, and overseeing a revamped Clubs Fair and re-opening the Hatch Art Gallery for exhibitions.
After narrowly losing the presidential election by 626 votes, he was prepared to leave the AMS behind and explore new ventures.
“I thought maybe this isn't meant to be and I'll move on,” said Du.
Eight months later, Du returned to the AMS to start a four-month term as interim president following President Esmé Decker’s indefinite leave of absence.
In November 2023, Decker announced she was taking an indefinite leave of absence. VP Academic and University Affairs Kamil Kanji served as acting president before AMS Council unanimously appointed Du as interim president in December.
He was the second member of the current AMS executive team to be appointed following a leave of absence. In October, Council appointed Joshua Kim to serve as interim VP external until January and has since extended his term until the end of April.
Du recognized the difficulties created by the departures on the AMS and said he wants to provide "stability" to the organization over the next four months.
Despite taking time away from the organization, Du said he's ready to comeback to an organization he’s still in the “honeymoon phase” with.
"You obviously think about a relationship when that word comes to mind, but for me, I match it with a job as well," said Du. "When you first start a job, you’re super excited to jump on anything, I don't think that has ever left me with this organization. So hopefully, that'll carry me through for the next four months.”
Compared to being VP administration, Du said the role of president requires him to think longer about “the long-term vision for the AMS” and to eliminate “short-termism” in decision making.
Du said he is aware of “increased polarization” on campus since rejoining the AMS and wants the AMS to foster spaces to discuss the topics productively.
“At the end of the day, I'm confident that everyone in the student community wants to participate and make decisions in the best interest of students and AMS," said Du. "Now, if we can enter these conversations, under the mutual understanding that is our ultimate goal, I think that we can really go far.”
During previous Council meetings, students-at-large have raised concerns about Council appointing interim executives instead of running by-elections, citing concern about the appointed executive not representing students.
As interim president, Du said he will continue to focus on the goals Decker presented to Council in June.
“The goals that [Decker] presented to Council were approved, and there's the expectation that those goals should be acted upon throughout the year … But I also want to add sort of my touch to how things are being run.”
He noted he was appointed by elected representatives and said there has to be "some level of trust" in them.
Du said he’s “not looking to make waves for the next four months."
"I’m really focused on stability ... At the end of the day I'm invested, still, in the AMS.”
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