The St. Thomas University Students’ Union hosted the vice-president education debate in advance of the by-election set for March 24, where students can vote through email.
Sydona Chandon is the only candidate for STUSU’s vice-president education position.
Vice-president education
Chandon is a third-year student at STU from Jamaica. She is the former international student representative for STUSU and is the vice-president for the STU Black Student Association.
Her summarized debate points are:
- She said she plans to do a campus-wide survey alongside the president of STUSU to understand student expectations for in-person classes.
- She said she plans to continue to partner with experiential learning to ensure diversified internships are available, and gave the example of internships specifically for arts students.
- She said she plans to review policies such as the sexual violence policy and sustainability policy to ensure that STU is upholding them, and to continue to advocate for financial aid and a decrease in interest rates for student loans for all students.
- She said she plans to ensure transparency by releasing monthly update videos and posting updates about advocacy plans on STUSU’s website.
- She said she wants to work with the vice-president student life to put on more physical and mental health events both on campus and online. She also plans to launch an “I Stand With You,” campaign, which she said would be a spin-off of STUSU’s ‘”I Believe You” campaign.
- She said she hopes to support Indigenous students by endorsing higher learning and providing access to materials that students have developed such as Project AIR and supporting the newly formed BIPOC mental health group.
- She said she wants to put on a pride week at STU.
