The Strand sat down with Katie Cohen, presidential candidate in the 2018 VUSAC spring election. We discussed her experience in various roles within the Victoria College community, and how they have informed her 34-page platform. Cohen stressed the importance of advocacy and reflected back on her term as Vice President External. If elected, Cohen’s plans include introducing a Victoria College handbook, and advocating for the introduction of an Indigenous course requirement.
The Strand: Why are you running for President?
Katie Cohen: In my time at Vic, the past three years, I have been involved in a ton of different capacities. I’ve been on VCDS for three years, I’ve worked at Caffiends and with various clubs and levies, and there are a lot of changes I want to see. I’ve seen when Vic works, and I’ve seen when Vic doesn’t work, and I think President is a phenomenal platform to be able to implement the changes that I want to see.
What experience or skills specifically are you bringing to the table for this position?
Over the course of my involvement at Vic in various capacities, I’ve gained a lot of different skills. I do like to think I’ve gained a lot of leadership skills, but part of when I think of myself as hopefully being a good leader, I really try to be a good team member. I think I’ve learned to support people on my team, and that’s how I get the most successful team. Especially when working with VCDS, when shows are so intense and so busy… If you’re the person in charge, you can’t just be dictating things; you have to be making sure that every single person feels supported and feels like they can do their job. That’s how you’ll get the best result.
I also think I’ve learned how to get things done in the most efficient capacity at university. There are so many different people and channels you can go through if you have an idea, and it can be overwhelming to even figure out where to start. In my time, whether I’ve applied to Student Projects to get something done or started an event myself, or done an event collaboration, I’ve figured out the channels in which you need to go through in order to get things done quickly, efficiently, and well. And to the best degree, so the most people can access them.
I also think my communication skills have gotten a lot better, hopefully, in the last three years, because I was very quiet in first year. But being able to reach more people, reaching out to more people, and just being a better listener [have been things] I’ve worked on actively over the last three years, and I think I’ve improved a lot.
What do you think is the most important role of the President? The most essential part of their job?
The unique part about President is that as President, you sit on so many higher administrative boards. You have access to incredibly powerful people at Victoria college, so I think you need to be an advocate. You’re given a place in a conversation with a lot of really important people that not a lot of other people at UofT have access to. Having the position to speak to these people on a regular basis means that you have to be a strong advocate for what the people of Victoria College want, and that comes in tandem with being a really strong listener, and being able to take people’s ideas and represent them fairly.
How do you feel about your last year as VPE, about your campaign promises and the progress that you’ve made?
Jumping into an executive role was really scary, it was quite intimidating, it was my first year on VUSAC, and it was one with quite a big portfolio. I feel really good about coming through with my campaign promises. The merch line is something that I had wanted since first year, and I spent all summer designing and sourcing money for and implementing, and taking student feedback, and making sure we did it in an effective way, and making sure it was cost-effective— so I’m really proud of that.
I’m really proud of the fact that the executive now has signing authority, so students don’t have to go to the Dean’s Office if they want posters signed.
I’m really proud of the support I’ve given to the team, I hope it’s been good, but I think VUSAC has been an incredibly wonderful place to work this year, and I think a big part of that is just how supportive everyone has been of each other, and I hope I have contributed to that.
It’s been an amazing year, I’m so thankful that I was elected, and that I had the opportunity to implement the change that I wanted to see, and I’m really happy so much of that change came to fruition.
What’s something you think you think council has done particularly well this year, in which the President has had a significant role, and that you would like to see continue?
Council has been really good at reviewing the constitution this year. Though it’s not very exciting, the constitution is what binds VUSAC and what guides us, and President Zahavah Kay has put together 22 amendments that we have discussed at upwards of four or five meetings and deliberated over a lot, and they change some pretty significant things.
Increasing the number of first year councillors is a big one. We talked about it a lot in council, and I think it’s a really important change that needs to be made. I think it will increase first year representation, and make them feel like VUSAC is more of an open place to them. It will get first-years better access to VUSAC, and that way in elections it’s more fair. When people are asking questions in September, they will be directed at upper year students or first year councillors.
We’ve also proposed changes that make the constitution more reflective of what actually happens now, so that people can do their jobs more accurately. I’m really proud of the thought that has gone into that, the care that has gone into that.
You and Jayde both have very extensive platforms. If elected, how do you plan on ensuring that you address all of the issues that you have raised?
One of the most important parts of my platform, to me, is that with every idea, promise, or initiative, I’ve included a deadline. I wouldn’t have put something in if I didn’t think it was realistic. I’ve included when I want them to happen and, if possible, how I see it happening. I can’t dictate that all of these would be done if I am elected president. I don’t get to force all of these on council. It’s a collective decision, and if council doesn’t like one of my ideas and doesn’t vote for it, then it’s not going to happen, and that’s not something I can change, because council is voting on behalf of Victoria College. But I do think my plan is realistic, because I’ve thought it through; I’ve added deadlines, who I will work with, how I will go about it, and so I’m going to make an effort to bring all of these to council and bring them all to fruition.
What part of this platform are you, personally, most passionate about?
It’s hard to narrow down. I have my top five priorities, and then different sections, because it is 34 pages and 12,000 words, which is a lot—I posted a summary.
I’m going to say two that are kind of connected. The first is the Vic handbook, and this is something that I really wanted in first year and that I have talked about a lot, but I think would be an incredible resource. It would essentially be a Yellow Pages for Victoria College. In first year, and even as a third year, it’s so overwhelming, the amount of resources that are at UofT. The amount of people, places, offices, buildings; it’s sometimes just impossible to navigate. The Vic Handbook is something I would spend the summer compiling, because the President has to be here over the summer in the office, that would be a go-to guide for Victoria College students. So you would open it, and you could be like what clubs are at Vic? And there would be a list of clubs, a description of them, and how to contact or get involved. If you wanted to know what the Registrar versus the Principal did, there would be sections for that. I would make it available in orientation kits, in all residence buildings, online, and in the VUSAC office. Mainly, it would be up to date. Because a lot of stuff at UofT doesn’t get updated.
The second part is a lot of equity points in my platform. One of the big ones is continuing to de-gender the washrooms, because we got some signs up this year but there’s a lot more work to be done, including signage directing people toward those washrooms, and changing the signs on some of the bigger bathrooms. I think we need to keep looking into an Indigenous course requirement, it’s a conversation that I heard a lot in first year but kind of died out. It’s something that President Robins has expressed an interest in, including doing maybe exchanges with colleges and universities that are more Indigenous-focused, and [bringing] more Indigenous-centered academic programming to Vic through lecture or speaker series. But this is something that I can’t do alone, and something I would need to consult with the Equity Commissioner and Co-Chair on to be able to bring these projects to Vic in the best possible way.
What’s the first thing you would do if elected?
I would propose to create the Sustainability Co-Chair, because I want to see this position hired sooner rather than later. Sustainability is a huge part of my platform, and it’s something that Vic’s admin is really lacking in taking seriously. The commission has done so much incredible work this year, and I want to support that by adding a Co-Chair. That would be a constitutional amendment, so the first thing I would do is bring that to council.
This spring election is much more contested than last. Has your position as VPE, or as a Vic student, provided you with any insight as to why we are seeing this change?
I would hope that it’s because people are excited about VUSAC again. There have been so many amazing initiatives this year, especially by the various commissions—Highball was such a success, and there are so many initiatives working really hard to help students understand what VUSAC does. Even having the backroom [in VUSAC] be a study room now; we have students come in a lot more often, they felt much more connected to VUSAC. So, I hope it’s that VUSAC has done a really good job this year making itself more accessible to students.
There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, I think that VUSAC needs to become even more accessible, and more relevant, but I hope that students feel more excited about their student government, and that they feel like they can get involved.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
