First-year political science student Ayesha Irfan is running to become one of five student senators-at-large on a platform of inclusion and accessibility.
Her three major platform points focus on implementing a mandatory Indigenous course credit and an equity-based academic calendar that accomodates an array of religious holidays. She also wants to make the Senate more accessible for the student body.
Irfan said she would consult with different student groups and religious communities on campus to decide what holidays should be included and said the measure could bring more attention to underrepresented groups.
“Students should not have to justify choosing between class or a religious holiday,” she said.
To address implementation of UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan, Irfan plans to work with the Curriculum Committee to advocate for a mandatory Indigenous course credit. She spoke of the need for greater engagement with UBC’s Indigenous Committee within the Senate and a stronger commitment towards reconciliation.
As some other universities in Canada have implemented this credit requirement successfully, Irfan argued that UBC should be no exception.
“This is one of the ways that we can involve not only the work that Indigenous communities prior have done here at UBC, but build on them [by] making sure that we're supporting current Indigenous programs and Indigenous scholars at UBC,” she said.
Irfan also said she would advocate to instate mandatory anti-racism training for Senate members.
“Most of our senators are not well versed on certain issues that pertain to Indigeneity or anti-racism. Inclusive language is so important when we talk about the policies we make, and we need to have folks on this board that understand what that lens looks like,” she said.
Another major point in Irfan’s platform is to create more transparency between the Senate and UBC students. She said that open, consistent communication between student BIPOC and equity organizations as well as the general student body would be important in her role as a student senator. She advocated for a more accessible website and said she would work with Senate staff to upload the meeting minutes in a timely manner.
"As of right now, sometimes meeting minutes are posted irregularly — if a student is interested in a certain committee and what they’re talking about … and the committee meeting minutes are not posted three months later, [the student] is going to lose interest.”
She also proposed launching a Senate Instagram account to keep students informed.
“[The Instagram] might also help spread dialogue about what's going on at Senate, or what even is Senate, because that's a big question too for a lot of folks,” she said.
In the debates, Irfan showed some small gaps in policy knowledge but was generally well-informed on Senate issues.
Irfan is running against incumbents Kamil Kanji and Romina Hajizadeh and newcomers Kareem Hassib, Mathew Ho, Davey Li and Sultana Razia for one of five student senator-at-large seats.
Follow us at @UbysseyNews on Twitter and follow our election coverage starting February 27. This article is part of our 2023 AMS Elections coverage.
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