News Brief: KSA council passes several motions in-camera, appoints members to committees
The KSA has 21 student representatives on council. (File photo)
The Kwantlen Student Association held an executive committee meeting on July 11 at 1:00 pm in the association’s board room at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey campus. All executives were in attendance.
Three upcoming events for students were approved at the meeting. The KSA will host “Ghazal Night” on July 24, which will be a poetry event, a “Breaking Stereotype” event on July 31 with guest speakers from the RCMP, and “Summer 24 Bash” on Aug. 7.
They will also host “KPU Got Talent” on July 25 at Grassroots Cafe from 4:00 to 7:00 pm for students to showcase their skills. There will be a prize giveaway, and those interested in participating should register beforehand by visiting https://shorturl.at/vQcOv.
The executive committee also approved the creation of the Barkat Club.
The KSA held a council meeting on July 12 at 10:00 am in Birch 250 on KPU’s Surrey campus and online via Microsoft Teams.
Council members Abhijeet Singh, Arnav Grover, Bhoomika Seera, Dishika Gour, Harpal Singh, Ishant Goyal, Jashanpreet Singh Sekhon, Jaskaran Sohal, Jasmine Kaur Kochhar, Keerat Goyal, Lesli Sangha, Nishant Kapoor, Paramvir Singh Johal, Ranveer Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Simranjot Sekhon, Suhana Gill, Yashanpreet Guron, Yugveer Gill, and Yuvraj Bains were in attendance for the council meeting. Nitin Aggarwal was absent.
Speaker of Council Amrinder Sandhu was absent due to scheduling conflicts after the meeting was rescheduled twice. Women’s Representative Suhana was appointed as acting speaker for the meeting.
Council approved motions in regard to their committees. Simranjeet was appointed to the social justice committee, while Jashanpreet, Suhana, Bains, Kochhar, and Harpal were appointed to the university affairs committee.
Jashanpreet, Kochhar, Grover, Keerat, and Abhijeet were appointed to the finance and operations committee. Abhijeet, Jashanpreet, Grover, Bains, and Harpal were appointed to the student life committee. Jashanpreet was removed from the social justice committee.
Council then decided to move in-camera with Executive Director Timothii Ragavan and Executive Secretary Prabjot Deol. A presentation from the SPC Student Discount program was on the agenda, which got moved to the next meeting after council moved in-camera indefinitely.
Several motions were passed in-camera and not disclosed to The Runner.
On the meeting agenda, there were 26 motions to amend the KSA’s Regulations regarding committees, the association’s mission and values statements, and election procedures among other things. These motions were not discussed during the meeting.
In Vice-President (VP) Student Life Guron’s report, he wrote the turban-tying event held on July 10 in the courtyard at KPU’s Surrey campus was a success.
“The event was well received and provided an excellent opportunity for cultural exchange and community building,” reads his report.
He also wrote that he is currently undergoing training from former president Abdullah Randhawa and former VP student life Jashanpreet to understand the roles and responsibilities within the organization.
In her report, VP Finance and Operations Simranjot wrote she has been working with the KSA’s accounting department to gain an understanding of her role.
In her report, Science and Horticulture Representative Seera wrote she participated in a media training session organized by the association on July 5 to learn media values and insights into “crafting effective responses during media interviews and techniques for framing [their] agendas in a positive and constructive manner.”
In his report, Students of Colour Representative Ishant wrote he has been working to “rigorously update/amend the KSA regulations.” He said the organization has been planning to start a “Vandh Chako Project” in collaboration with the Guru Nanak Free Kitchen during the fall semester. He is also hoping to organize a blood service drive with the Canadian Blood Services in the fall.
He said the community dialogue on mental health in South Asian communities held on July 2 helped him understand “the importance of facilitating mental health dialogues and opening dialogues and channels to have a safe space for such intense conversations.”
Faculty of Design Representative Levi Okrah resigned from council in an email sent to the KSA.
The meeting ended at 11:43 am after quorum was lost. At the time of publication, the next council meeting had yet to be scheduled.
