The Strand sat down with Georgia Lin, first-year Victoria College student, to discuss her platform for Equity Commissioner.
The Strand: What are the main initiatives that you plan to implement if elected?
Georgia Lin: Some of my main platform goals are to make equity training constitutionally mandatory for Vic clubs and levy heads, because currently it’s optional. In order to make Vic as accessible and equitable as possible, our student leaders should be receiving equity training and gaining the equity knowledge that they need. Another main goal of mine is to create an equity resource guide detailing on and off-campus resources for marginalized communities and minority groups. This is to be distributed in orientation kits and throughout the year, so that everyone can access it and have a better understanding of the resources they have access to—most of which are free. Another goal is to engage more professors in equity work at Vic by hosting roundtable and academic discussions on current issues.
Which initiatives achieved by VUSAC Equity do you aim to expand?
Doc n’ Talks, definitely. The current structure sometimes doesn’t attract a lot of interest. Sometimes the attendance is not as high as we would hope. I think that we should reach out to members of the VCU to understand what they want to see from the Doc n’ Talks, whether it’s getting their opinions on which films we screen, on how the discussions can be better structured, so that the Doc n’ Talk is ultimately an educational initiative that everyone should be able to enjoy.
Do you have plans to ensure that the 2017-2018 Equity Commission’s constitutional amendments are enacted during your term?
I was part of the team in making suggestions to the constitutional amendments. I looked at the clubs and levy heads section in both the VUSAC Constitution and Council Policies, and I found that, first of all, a lot of the language needs to be clarified. The Equity Commissioner currently does not sit on a lot of the hiring committees and boards that Vic is constitutionally mandated to have. So I think that is a change that should definitely be implemented over the summer and at least by the time fall elections are held in 2018. I would do this by working with the Execs and the President over the course of the next couple months, in order to ensure that these are implemented in a timely manner.
How do you intend on increasing student involvement with Equity events?
One of my platform points is to update our current WordPress. Right now, it’s not getting a lot of traffic. Our Facebook page is getting much more traffic, but the WordPress has all of the meeting minutes. I think it can be updated into a more seamless website where there [are] more continual updates and it’s attached to social media. There can be an open forum for VCU students to engage with the Equity Commission to provide any feedback or suggestions they have, whether they are initiative ideas or where the meetings are held and what we’re talking about. Also just in general, to publicize our events and have a proactive plan in programming throughout both semesters.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
