Newcomers challenged sitting senators on their track record, while one candidate stood alone in advocating against COVID-19 restrictions on campus at last night’s Great Debate.
Candidates for senator-at-large agreed on the need for increased focus on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), but didn’t shy away from challenging other candidates on their policy positions and past work.
Incumbent senators-at-large Eshana Bhangu, Dante Agosti-Moro and Georgia Yee, sitting faculty student senator Anisha Sandhu and newcomers Kamil Kanji, Romina Hajizadeh, Dana Turdy and Tate Kaufman are all bidding for one of five student senator-at-large seats.
A question posed about the incorporation of Asian history into post-secondary curricula — based on a recommendation by UBC’s National Forum Against Anti-Asian Racism — sparked some ideas on how to address racism at UBC.
Sandhu said there is a need for a “code of conduct” in the Senate that concerns discussions about racism and EDI. “Sometimes the conversations go sideways … I think we've seen time and time and time again, there are harms that arise in that space,” she said.
Kaufman said Senate policies concerning EDI beyond UBC campus should be created. “We need to do … an audit of the way in which our research collaborations are happening. I know in the past UBC has had research collaborations with [groups such as] Huawei.”
Kanji said that increasing funding for research on racism and its prevention by both students and faculty would help to address this issue.
During the open debate, Turdy asked the candidates who are also running for a Board of Governors (BoG) position — Yee and Kaufman — about a potential conflict of interest when serving on both bodies.
Turdy said that at the January Senate meeting, Yee raised concerns about the impact the extension of the course drop deadline might have on UBC's budget. Turdy said she felt when Yee was doing her role as senator, she should not be considering the role of the budget, only the academic benefits.
Yee backed her decision and said that lost tuition revenue can affect students in other areas. “Student interests are included within the budget. And that's not just what we typically think of, in terms of budget, this will also affect … block funding … academic support,” she said.
Agosti-Moro stressed that he is only running for Senate.
“[I’m] not critical of those running for more than one role, and you know, depending on what [the roles] are, it can be managed … [but I will dedicate] my time here at UBC to my work on the Senate,” Agosti-Moro said. Hajizadeh is also only running for Senate.
Sitting senator Julia Burnham asked incumbents what they had done in their last year on the Senate.
Bhangu said she drafted the motion for the drop date extension, Agosti-Moro said he worked on appeals committee review recommendations, Sandhu said she focused on serving as the vice-chair on the Academic Building Needs committee and Yee said she created a priorities document to determine what goals are feasible.
Kanji asked Sandhu what she specifically accomplished within that committee. Sandhu said she worked on “facilitating meaningful conversation” in the committee.
However, Turdy said that she was not able to see Sandhu contributing to discussion in the Academic Building Needs through meeting minutes and said she would want to see more action. Public committee minutes from September to December 2021 show Sandhu asking one question, however it’s unclear how detailed these minutes are.
Kanji agreed that he would have liked to see more tangible action from that committee.
Sandhu said their questions showed a “lack of knowledge" of the committee.
“In the scope of Academic Building Needs committee, all you can do is provide recommendations … that is essentially the extent of it,” Sandhu said. “That’s why I would like to stick around for another year to review the terms of reference.”
The tone changed when Kaufman asked incumbent senators how they voted on the mandatory vaccine disclosure and rapid testing policy. The Senate did not create this policy — it was put in place by admin and the Board of Governors — but Senate did pass a motion in November to deregister students who did not comply with this policy.
Vaccine and testing policy was not widely discussed, but a short exchange between Turdy and Kaufman on COVID-19 restrictions and the importance of vaccinations led Kaufman to getting up from his seat and putting some papers down in front of Turdy, saying he “[doesn’t] believe in advocating for what is popular.”
“If you only believe in advocating for policies that are popular with younger members of the Senate, then you're essentially saying you won't advocate for student interests, unless you're certain that all the other members of the Senate will agree,” Kaufman said.
Turdy responded that there is scientific proof behind the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
“[Vaccines have] been proven to reduce hospitalization rates by a dramatic effect, which is incredibly important if you have immunocompromised, at-risk, disabled students on our campus that we have a duty to protect,” Turdy said.
Voting starts on March 7.
This article has been updated to state that Hajizadeh is also only running for Senate.
Follow us at @UbysseyNews on Twitter and follow our election coverage starting February 28. This article is part of our 2022 AMS elections coverage.