The Strand sat down with Devon Wilton to discuss his candidacy for VUSAC’s Vice President External (VPE). Wilton has constructed his platform around a mandate of “equity, sustainability, accessibility.” We discussed his plan to strengthen the relationship between VUSAC and the Dean’s office, as well as some of the ways in which he hopes to address the inaccessibility of spaces around Vic.
The Strand: Why are you running for the position of VPE?
Devon Wilton: I came into council this year as a councillor for the first time and I ended up being assigned to the VPE portfolio, along with equity and communications, and I had the opportunity to serve the VPE in a lot of capacities. I took on an event representing [the current] VPE, where I collaborated with nine other student organizations around UofT. I attended meetings that normally the president or the VPE would have met with and I really enjoyed it. So I think that personally it’s a good fit for me. I enjoy doing the work that it consists of, and also it’s something that I’m passionate about; the opportunity that the VPE has to advocate for the interests of the VCU and make the changes that I hope to make if I am elected.
What traits or experiences specifically qualify you to fill this role?
I think a huge part of [the role of] VPE is collaboration and support, and confidence in dealing with other people. And that comes in so many different ways: support when you’re dealing with the rest of council as an executive member, collaboration when you’re dealing with other organizations in the university and other student groups when you’re being the face of VUSAC for those people and then confidence and firmness when you’re dealing with administration and things like that and other groups whose interests don’t perfectly align with the interests of the student population, and when the advocacy kicks in more.
Those are the traits that I have, and I feel make me a good fit for the position, more broadly, aside from my specific experience.
How do you plan to create a positive relationship with the Dean’s office as VPE? That relationship has traditionally been a little strained, do you have any concrete steps in mind to resolve this?
I’ve worked with the Dean’s office before, I’m on the equity portfolio and I’m representing the Equity Commissioner on the Grad Banquet Committee, so that’s working with Bergita [Petro]; I’ve worked with Scott Johnston; I’ve worked with Dean Castle in the past as well. I think that as an individual I have a good working relationship with these people, and as VPE, that’s what I would strive to pursue: A collaborative, productive, healthy, respectful relationship that is also formed with advocacy in mind and with firmness in mind for pursuing the interests of the VCU.
In terms of a concrete step, something that [the current VPE] Katie [Cohen] worked to do this year was that she would join Zahavah [Kay], the president, with regularly scheduled meetings with the Dean’s office. The president will always have these regularly scheduled meetings, but the VPE more has historically met with them on an as-needed basis, and as VPE I would definitely like to move toward regularly scheduled meetings so that as things come up there’s always a time that we know we will be able to talk to them, and I think that will form a more stable relationship between VUSAC and the Dean’s office.
A large part of your platform involves constitutional review of VUSAC-affiliated clubs and levies. Why is this something that you feel is particularly important?
I included it at the top of my website because I feel that it is a broad thing. I have structured my platform around these three values that I want to pursue…
Equity, sustainability, accessibility.
Exactly, and accessibility in a couple of different senses, really. And by putting that above [my platform], I want to signify that all of those values and considerations will be a part of that. And that’s a goal that came to mind during my time on VUSAC this year when lots of different clubs and levies came to VUSAC with constitutional amendments, and when we open the constitution for things we look at the rest of it as well, and things jumped out at me in practices and in the structure of the constitution that I don’t think are fair and I don’t think represent those three values, and so while I definitely want to respect the autonomy of levies especially, and clubs, I think that suggestions and a more interactive relationship between VUSAC and VUSAC’s commissioners, and the Executive with the heads of clubs and levies, to suggest improvements or changes to the way that they operate might help to fix some of those issues.
A think a problem there is the issue of respecting a levy’s autonomy. We are funded and function independently from VUSAC. That’s a tricky area.
It could only ever be a collaborative relationship, and respectful suggestion.
In your platform, you bring up the suggestion of renaming the Ryerson stream of VicOne and the Ryerson residence. Do you have an idea of the steps that you would need to take as VPE in order to make that happen?
First, I think about this in all the goals and steps I want to take [as VPE], is consultation with groups on campus and at Vic that might be stakeholders in this situation. So, Indigenous students at Vic and at UofT, reaching out to leaders in those communities, about if they would like to collaborate with VUSAC on that initiative in a real and official way, or also if they just have any views or suggestions that they wanted to lend. As one of the top priorities of my campaign I would be meeting hopefully with the president, the Dean’s office, the Board of Regents, the Senate— basically anyone that I think would like to hear about this and have a view (hopefully in support of the changes). I think that student support for that initiative specifically would be vital, because it is the students that I have spoken to that are most in favour of this, more so than administration who may have more reservations about changing the name for other interests that they hold.
What part of your platform are you personally most passionate about?
I would say the renaming of the Ryerson house, I think that’s something new that VUSAC hasn’t engaged with. but since I just talked about it, I’ll move on.
I’ll talk a little bit about gender neutral washrooms, because that is something that VUSAC engaged with this year but not to an extent that I am satisfied with. I won’t say that I am more passionate about Ryerson than those, they’re both so vital to the accessibility of spaces at Vic. I have talked in my platform about taking an approach to gender neutral washrooms that is modeled after queer spaces in Toronto, and with consultation with queer people and students and leaders around Vic, and that’s something I’m definitely passionate about.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
