McMaster is home to students from a myriad of unique backgrounds. This includes students who fall anywhere along the spectra of gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. These are characteristics that give us personal and individual identities, and allow each of us to contribute novel perspectives on problems and innovations in engineering. However, because some of these identities are also subject to systematic limitations, the lived experiences of many students become barriers in their education. My goal is to include all voices in my advocation and help facilitate conversations around who we might be forgetting in policymaking. By working alongside the Equity and Inclusion Officer and teams/clubs such as NSBE and Women in Engineering, we can ensure that we reduce the impact of conscious and unconscious biases on the education of so many students. 

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Additionally, I want to make the importance of prioritizing students' mental and physical health well understood by the faculty and its partners. The evidence that students are suffering during this isolating time is irrefutable. Compounded by increased workloads and deadlines, it isn't difficult to see that our institutions may not be doing enough. I want to start by first working with the VPSL, AVPAR, SWELL, and EFRT during B2S week to establish a more concrete platform for students to access health services on campus and from home. I also want to ensure that in addition to the above identities, that the council's decisions speak to the needs of students that identify as having a mental or physical illness.  

 

The academic success of our students demands the ability to be heard and recognized in policymaking. 

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