Ferdinand Rother is a third-year economics student running for the Board of Governors on a platform focused on advocating for international students, environmental sustainability and affordability for students.
Rother, an international student himself, said he was disappointed to not see representation for international students on the Board.
“With around 30 per cent of the student body being international students, I think it's quite dangerous from a democracy standpoint, to not have any representation [on Board].”
While Rother is not in favour of raising tuition, he hopes to advocate to the Board to “equalize the rate hikes between domestic and international students” if another tuition raise does occur.
If elected governor, Rother hopes to push the university to advocate to the provincial and federal governments for further grants and use the university’s endowment to supplement its budget instead of international tuition fees.
“I think it's very unfair to just completely push everything onto international students,” he said.
The Board approved tuition fee increases of five per cent for new international students, three per cent for continuing international students and two per cent for domestic students for the 2024/25 academic year. International students are not covered by the provincial government’s Tuition Limit Policy, which caps fee increases at two per cent for domestic students.
He is also concerned with luxury property development on campus, specifically in the Wesbrook Village neighbourhood.
“I think that's quite dangerous, how UBC is just giving up a lot of its land not in the common interest of the students, so I’d advocate for more affordable housing being built [on campus],” said Rother.
Rother is interested in ensuring the university respects its commitment to sustainability and its Climate Action Plan 2030 and said the high usage of concrete in new construction is “troubling.”
UBC currently targets a 50 per cent reduction in emissions using low carbon materials and new construction techniques. Brock Commons Tallwood House, a mass-timber highrise was built using new building methods. However, no other mass-timber buildings are under construction at the moment.
Rother also wants to increase cycling infrastructure on campus to aid the safety and ease of biking around the campus.
Rother has experience in leadership roles, namely as the current president of the Interfraternity Council (IFC). The IFC signed a memorandum of agreement with the AMS in 2023, which restored the relationship between fraternities and the AMS after it ended in 2019.
“That's taught me a lot about listening, about making my voice heard and about prioritizing certain issues and reading into them,” said Rother.
When asked about concerns about the university’s investment in companies complicit in human rights violations, Rother said the university’s investment is “quite problematic,” and he would “[question] why it's investing in controversial industries.”
Rother is running against current governor Eshana Bhangu and newcomers Kamil Kanji, Jasper Lorien, Siddharth Rout, Leonard Wang and Enav Zusman.
This article is part of our 2024 AMS Elections coverage. Follow us at @UbysseyNews on X (formerly Twitter) and follow our election coverage starting February 27.
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