By Alex Harte (Contributor) – Email
The Student Union Society (SUS) met for their monthly Board of Directors meeting last Friday, September 25, to listen to a presentation from UFV Athletics about a new recreation centre beside the CEP campus in Chilliwack and to talk about the election season.
The board discussed a new recreation centre next to the Chilliwack CEP campus, recapped U-Join and Welcome Week, and planned for the Get out the Vote campaign and Mental Health Awareness Week.
New recreation centre in the works
If you’re hearing sporadic gunfire in your classes at the Chilliwack CEP campus — don’t worry, it’ll soon be replaced with the low grumbling of bulldozers.
Director of athletics and campus recreation Steve Tuckwood brought forward a new Chilliwack Recreation plan to the board, noting that SUS could potentially be involved. The plan is to turn what was an officers’ mess hall at the Chilliwack military base into an event space and the large outdoor shooting range into a new recreation centre. Tuckwood mentioned planning for the new centre includes artificial turf, weight-lifting equipment, and an indoor rock-climbing wall, but said that there may be student jobs to contribute to running the facility and fitness classes.
“I can’t do it without you guys. I need support from you,” he said.
vhe board showed interest in the new centre and will meet with UFV Athletics towards October.
The Cascade will continue to cover this story in the coming weeks.
Goodbye grand openings, hello election season
As the federal elections draw nearer, the Get Out the Vote campaign is receiving more attention. Elections Canada information booths are set up around campus and all-candidates debates at the Student Union Building (SUB) are set for this week. SUS vice-president external Sukhi Brar has set a campaign goal of 50 presentations and 1000 student pledges between all UFV campuses. At the board meeting, she reported that SUS has collected 400 pledges and 24 class presentations.
However, Brar noted that federal elections may draw students’ attention away from Mental Health Awareness week, a project usually in the VP external’s portfolio.
“We’ve started a meeting with the counselling department, and they’re moving forward with a time that doesn’t really work for us. We’re supporting them by providing volunteers,” she said.
“The dates [of Mental Health Awareness Week] coincides with our Get Out the Vote campaign. To do both would be taxing.”
She also added that using a bus to shuttle students from campus to voting stations during election week could be a helpful service — but nothing has been finalized. According to SUS president Thomas Davies, SUS had one of its largest and most successful Welcome Weeks in terms of turnout.
“[It was] probably, and arguably, one of the biggest weeks that the Student Union’s had ever,” he said.
Welcome Week, U-Join, International Student Orientation, and New Student Orientation coincided with the SUB grand opening this year, and saw a few hundred students in the beginning weeks of September.
The next SUS board meeting will be held on Friday, October 30 at the Abbotsford campus. The time is yet to be determined, but will be posted on the SUS website nearing the end of the month.
