Letter to the Editor: Our concerns regarding the KSA’s queer students representative as queer KPU students

As queer students of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, we write this letter to address a lack of collaboration between the Kwantlen Student Association Queer Students Representative Yuvraj Bains and queer resources on campus.

This concern stems from our collective student commitment to queer representation, opportunities for queer success, and access to internal and external resources that support queer students at KPU. 

Since being appointed as the queer students representative in the spring, all efforts made by those attached to this letter to speak and collaborate with Bains have been met with silence — until the development of this letter. 

Destiny Lang, the previous queer students representative from 2022-24, reached out to Bains on April 7 to offer support transitioning into the role, as well as with introductions to various queer advocates and Pride communities within and beyond KPU. They were left with no response from the newly appointed representative.  

“Regarding communication, I understand you mentioned attempts to reach me. I just want to clarify that I haven’t received any emails from students related to my role. If I had, I would’ve responded immediately,” Bains wrote in a June 13 email to KPU student Carson Adams. 

However, until the development of this letter was mentioned to Bains when requesting a formal statement regarding his avoidance of the representative’s responsibility to connect with queer students, many student emails have been ignored and overlooked. Including those from the former queer students representative.

“Due to an ongoing conduct matter being reviewed by the Student Rights and Responsibilities Office (SRRO) at KPU, I am temporarily restricted from accessing any KPU campuses,” Bains wrote. 

Some students are now raising concerns about how the SRRO investigation impacts Bains’s ability to support and advocate for us.

Additionally, it is disheartening that Bains has not attempted to take initiative and reach out to the KPU queer community and instead denies efforts from us to reach out to him. Despite multiple online opportunities to connect with the queer student body, no effort has been made to show support for actions, including those supposedly initiated by Bains. 

“The KSA has recently approved funding to support 2SLGBTQIA+ post-secondary student research, which I had the privilege to help initiate and advocate for through the Executive Committee,” Bains wrote.

In a queer research team online presentation to the KSA council on May 14, no reason was given as to why Bains was not in attendance. Executive Director Timothii Ragavan was also absent without explanation. 

“Please accept my sincerest apologies for not being able to meet or speak with you face to face. Even though I can’t be on campus right now, I’m still very much here for you and committed to supporting our community,” Bains wrote on June 13, addressing the contents of this letter.

“I doubt the sincerity of his superficial apology and I do not accept it. In this current circumstance, I have no patience for, do not trust, and have no support for Yuvraj Bains in his role as the queer students representative,” said an anonymous KPU student.

“From the moment Yuvraj used a pseudonym to run for the election, I believe I can speak for many queer KPU students that Yuvraj Bains has done nothing to gain our trust and support, and instead has gained distrust and doubt.” 

During an April 2 council meeting following the 2025 KSA general election, the queer student representative identified themselves as James (no last name) while attending the meeting online via Microsoft Teams under the username Yuvraj Bains. The individual was not present at the annual general meeting to sign the oath of office. 

The queer students representative’s lack of initial response to communication efforts made by queer students at KPU, the ongoing SRRO investigation, and the use of a pseudonym in the general elections raises serious concerns for what this approach could mean for queer student advocacy in the long run.

“I would love to connect virtually — whether that’s through email, video call, or any online platform that works best for you,” Bains wrote. 

In response to Bains’s email statement, an invitation has been put forth to join the KPU Pride Society Discord server as a means of realistic engagement in the current circumstances. Our hope is that it provides the queer students representative an opportunity to have a more active role in communication and collaboration with the queer community at KPU moving forward.

Sincerely, 

A concerned group of queer KPU students