The Strand: What made you want to run for Scarlet and Gold Commissioner?
Jemimah: I don’t feel that, as it stands, the events that the Scarlet and Gold Commission puts on reflect our whole community. When you think of Scarlet and Gold, you think of highball and pub nights. They’re super awesome, and obviously I don’t want to stop those, but I also feel like not everyone really wants to participate in those kinds of events. Social life is really important to make people feel like they’re at home at Vic, so I want to organize alternative events that make everyone feel like they’re welcome and can participate.
What kind of events do you have in mind?
I want to collaborate with the Cat’s Eye to have stuff going on while pub nights are going on. Stuff like a games night or a movie night, something more laid back so that people have an option when it comes to engaging. Sort of like what we do during frosh week.
A common criticism of Highball is that it’s not very accessible for students. As the main piece of the Scarlet and Gold portfolio, what do you see are the pros of highball and what can change?
It’s going to be a big challenge for next year. I was on the Highball committee this year and the biggest problem is that the budget isn’t reflective of the expectations that people have. Every year, people say it’s going to be bigger, we’re going to have more space for more people. Realistically, it’s hard to do that because the budget doesn’t increase every year and it doesn’t reflect inflation. [Current Scarlet and Gold Commissioner and Presidential candidate Stuart Norton] did a fantastic job this year, but he was quite stressed out about Highball Leaving the budget as it is will just make it more stressful every year for whoever comes in to do Scarlet and Gold. If I were to take on the job, I don’t want to leave it in the same kind of situation for the next person.
Besides being on Highball committee, what experience do you have that will prepare you for the role?
Highball committee was a great experience because it let me get involved in VUSAC and see how it all worked. I was also high school class president for two years, planning grad dinner and prom and working with event planning and different budgets.
There’s also more minor stuff in the portfolio, like the pub nights that Norton introduced this year. Do you see yourself keeping a lot of the existing portfolio as it is?
I actually want to create an online forum where students can give feedback about events, because I want to make sure that Scarlet and Gold is putting on events that the community cares about and reflect it. I also want to start a committee to organize the first semester formal, because that’s a pretty new event and there isn’t a committee as it stands. A lot of people are really interested in Highball committee, so I think that [a Fall formal committee would be] something that a lot of students would be interested in and a good way to get students involved.
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