Before students take to the polls for VUSAC’s 2018 elections, The Strand spoke to Vice President External (VPE) and Board of Regents candidate, Alexa Breininger, to discuss her platform. If elected to the position, Breininger hopes to include more mental health resources within VUSAC’s mandate and to make the organization more equitable and accessible to all students. We also discussed her plans to address issues of sustainability at Vic.
The Strand: As you’re running for the role of VPE, what qualifications and skills are you bringing to the position, and what makes you the best candidate for the job?
Alexa Breininger: I was on VUSAC last year as a councillor, so I’ve seen a lot of how it works internally so I know the structure of meetings, how everything works. I also have been on the Victoria College Council; I was on that last year, this year I was on the Board of Regents. So it’s the role of the VPE to work with all the governing bodies of Vic, so Victoria College Council, Regents, Dean’s Office, administration. Because I’ve had most of the positions you can have as a student, I really know how these governing bodies work. So I think I’m in a pretty unique position to kind of have that knowledge of when I’m working with them, I know internally what they’re thinking and how they operate. I think that uniquely qualifies me, and I don’t think that there’s anyone else running that has those specific experiences and that specific skill set.
VUSAC members, as you probably already know, take on lots of different responsibilities, so what’s your take on the mandate of the VPE position? What do you think that position will entail and how do you plan to fulfill those demands?
In the Constitution, it’s pretty broad. The VPE basically serves as the liaison between the governing bodies of Vic, but also the governing bodies at UofT, mostly the UTSU. In other years, it’s really varied how much contact the VPE has had with the UTSU—it depends on the issues that come up. But I think that the most important part about maintaining those relationships is making sure that Vic’s interests are represented. So making sure that we are working with UTSU directors to make sure that we’re in constant communication so that our students are being represented.
Aside from acting as a liaison and as an advocate for student interests, I think the role is really what you make of it. So I think myself, as well as the other candidates running, will have some really good ideas for adding things to the portfolio that aren’t explicitly stipulated there. For example, I really want to bring better mental health initiatives to Vic. Right now, all the mental health initiatives are run through the Dean’s Office. A lot of people don’t really feel comfortable going to the Dean’s Office, especially in terms of mental health access. So I really want to open up an avenue where they don’t have to go to the Dean’s Office to get these services. I know that VUSAC also doesn’t have the best reputation in terms of their relationship with the students, but I really want to work towards bridging that gap, because I don’t want people staying silent out of fear. If they can’t trust the Dean’s Office, I want them to be able to trust VUSAC and to be able to trust me as the VPE. So I really want to make myself personally known around Vic so that if they need anything, they have no idea where to go, if they don’t know specifically that VUSAC offers this service, they can email [email protected] and say: “Hey, I really need help. Can you direct me to where I might be able to go?”
What are the central points of your platform and what parts of it are you most passionate about?
So mental health is a really big part of it. I have struggled with mental health personally for most of my life. I’ve been lucky to be in a position where I’ve never struggled to get help just because of the people around me, and my parents, so I’ve been lucky in that way, but I know a lot of people aren’t and are suffering without knowing where to go. So I really want to be able to provide them with that space that is safe, because they don’t really have that right now.
Another big part of the platform is divestment at the Board level. It’s definitely not something that’s going to happen this year. I don’t have an expectation that it is; but it’s something that has. I don’t really think it’s been brought forward in a very real way to the Board so far. I know it’s been discussed a little bit but I don’t think anyone has really been pushing and saying this is what students want. So I really want to open up that conversation on the Board this year.
Another point mentioned on your platform was the Universal Calendar. So what is your plan to push that forward?
So that’s something that’s actually been in the works this year. I know that Katie Cohen, who is the current Vice President External, has really been trying to make that happen. I’m not really sure where they are with it right now, but I think it’s something that we really need to work on, hopefully over the summer so that we can get it implemented in the fall, because I know from personal experience that a lot of events this year have been cancelled, moved, pushed back because there was another event that was happening at the same time, and it was just very conflicting. It doesn’t make Vic feel like a unified community because we don’t want clubs and levies and societies fighting with each other to get people to come to their events. We want people to be able to choose what they want to go to and be able to do what they want.
In terms of VUSAC’s role on campus, and how it’s perceived by your fellow peers, what changes would you like to see in making VUSAC as an organization more accessible to Vic students?
One of the big issues when I was on VUSAC last year was that a lot of people felt it was an unsafe space, especially LGBTQ+ communities, non-binary students, for very specific reasons that I won’t get into now. So I actually ran—was going to run—for VPI last year so that I’d be able to address that issue. It ended up not working out when I had to withdraw from the campaign for personal reasons. But I have another chance this year to run for a position that will be able to have some influence and I really want to open up the conversation to the people that have felt the most affected, most marginalized by VUSAC. I really want to work with them and hear what they have to say, and what they need to feel safe coming to VUSAC, not necessarily being in VUSAC space if that’s not where they want to be, but we want to be able to have an open relationship with them and that means not implementing things without consulting with anyone. I really want to open up the dialogue, [and have] people feel safe and comfortable with having that dialogue.
Regarding the relationship between VUSAC and the Dean’s Office, which as you know has been strained at times, how do you plan to address that relationship?
That’s a really tricky one, because the Dean’s Office is very hesitant to change. I feel as though VUSAC has really pushed back against the Dean’s Office in the past, and it hasn’t really done anything to help. As much as it would be my job as the VPE to keep pushing them to make the changes that students want to see and keep pushing them to hold them accountable, we can’t rely on that for the changes we want to see, which is why I want to make especially the mental health resources available through an outside source. As much as it would be nice to change the Dean’s Office so that people are comfortable going there, that’s not necessarily the most realistic goal. So I would rather have a place that students can go that’s separate, while we also are working with the Dean’s Office to change things. It’s a little bit more tangible of a goal.
Are there any final thoughts you want to leave students with as they’re entering the polls, concerning you and your platform as a whole?
I think that at the end of the day, there are a lot of specific parts of my platform, but the main overarching goal is that I want people to feel safe and comfortable at Vic, because Vic has given me a lot of opportunities and a lot of spaces where I have felt that I have been able to make my voice heard and make an impact. I know that there are a lot of people that feel that [Vic] is not a space where they can do that, so I really want to change that for them.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
