Solomon Yi-Kieran, a second-year history and linguistics student, is running for VP external because they think they can “get those advocacy wins that students want and need.”
As a current student senator and VP AUA of the UBC Disabilities United Collective, Yi-Kieran is excited to bring their previous experience to the AMS. They have also worked with the BC NDP on projects like pushing the provincial government to provide funding for affordable sexual health clinics and advocating for aid for those affected by war in Ukraine and Gaza.
If elected, Yi-Kieran said he would prioritize housing issues, including advocating for the BC Residential Tenancy Act to be applied to on-campus housing.
“The university can raise rents or raise costs as much as they want,” said Yi-Kieran. “Currently, [students living on campus] don't have tenant rights, which means sudden evictions, sudden room checks — that can all happen. And I think that is unfair to students.”
Yi-Kieran also wants to work with the BC Ministry of Housing to ensure “all new densification and new development [in Area D of the University Endowment Lands prioritizes] rent-controlled, low-income, below-market and student housing” as a transit-oriented area.
On improving affordability, Yi-Kieran plans to advocate for a $100,000 increase in AMS food bank funding from provincial and municipal governments — this could be a step towards restoring staff access to the food bank which, “as of now, is not very feasible, but I think is a goal that we should be working towards,” Yi-Kieran said.
Yi-Kieran commended former VP External Ayesha Irfan’s progress on pushing for the SkyTrain extension to UBC, and plans to continue work on this project. Yi-Kieran also wants to work with TransLink to streamline and increase bus lines frequented by UBC students and push for a direct bus line from UBC to Richmond. Yi-Kieran hopes to “advocat[e] for increased funding for TransLink from the municipal, provincial and federal governments.”
They also plan to work with BC Ferries to institute a discounted student rate for ferry tickets.
“These expensive ferry tickets burden students going home [and] also students coming to UBC. They want to explore BC. That's part of the draw that the university has. And making BC Ferries cheaper for students will allow them to do that,” they said.
When asked about challenges facing the position, Yi-Kieran said they are “unsatisfied” with how the AMS has operated in the past few years, and that “having a good external image … towards students [and] the university, as well as towards external partners like the government” is something they will prioritize, if elected.
“I believe that this year's AMS is going to have to be committed to transparency, to working with constituencies and other groups on campus and, above all, getting the work done. And I'm very much committed to that,” said Yi-Kieran.
“I definitely want to make sure that I'm building a good reputation so that my successors also have a good place to work from, to make sure that student advocacy is able to be done for a long time.”
This article is part of our 2025 AMS Elections coverage. Follow us at @UbysseyNews on X (formerly Twitter) and follow our election coverage starting March 3.
See all stories on "vp external election 2025" and be notified with RSS
Share this article
First online
Submit a complaint Report a correction
