Georgia Yee is running for reelection to the Senate on a platform that encompasses Indigenous issues, affordability and both student and climate health.
Yee’s platform is summarized into five points which she calls her “ABCDEs”: approaching affordability holistically; bringing better student health, safety and career services; creating a climate-resilient UBC; developing digital UBC; and enacting equitable, just and accessible communities and systems.
One of Yee’s main goals within this platform is to continue developing courses that focus on Indigenous peoples.
She said that the aim is to “… ensur[e] that all academic programs include at least one course which will explore Indigenous histories and issues and how they intersect with [the] major field of study.”
Yee also wants to push for Senate involvement in COVID-19 policy going forward and for UBC to act “in a more proactive manner rather than a reactive manner.”
“I am currently working on establish[ing] more processes … so that the Senate is consulted on COVID-19 policy decisions, as well as COVID-19 matters,” Yee said.
Providing aid related to the mental well-being of both UBC students and staff is also a priority for Yee.
“I will be creating a follow-through and plan for the implementation of the Senate Mental Health Framework, especially under these circumstances where COVID-19 has really … created such an impact on student and faculty mental health,” she said.
There have not been any changes relating to her previous platform regarding the creation of more open education materials, but she said that she’s been working with AMS VP academic & university affairs and fellow student senator Eshana Bhangu on this and has been in discussion with the Academic Policy Committee — although Yee does not sit on this committee.
Yee said she will work on making student politics more accessible. In the past year she has been creating meeting summaries for the committees she sits on and posting them on Reddit and hopes to expand her reach. The last meeting summary post on her Reddit was for the December 7 Board of Governors meeting.
“I’m exploring current initiatives to make this more widespread whether it’s, you know, one centralized … summary and then I can then disseminate that out on different social media platforms,” she said.
Regarding the improvement of student engagement as a whole, Yee believes that responsibility falls to those in student governance positions.
“Who are the students that don't regularly engage in student politics and how [can we] support them and … help them become informed?” she said.
“What are those topics that students who aren't usually in … university politics … interested in hearing about as well?”
Yee is running against fellow current student senators Eshana Bhangu, Anisha Sandhu and Dante Agosti-Moro as well as newcomers Romina Hajizadeh, Kamil Kanji, Tate Kaufman and Dana Turdy.
Follow us at @UbysseyNews on Twitter and follow our election coverage starting February 28. This article is part of our 2022 AMS elections coverage.