COMRADE SHELLZ AKA DAVE SHELLNUTT AKA BIG DAVE SHELLZ AKA STRAWBERRY FIELDS AKA PREZ AKA THAT MOFO, ETC.
<Legal & Lit President>
This is my last communiqué to you all. Thank goodness, thank God, thank whomever you wish. On my end it has been trying, yet rewarding to write to the student body each week. Clearly I have enough to say but I have been perpetually self-conscious about saying it well. I hope that throughout the year these Obiter articles have been informative, uplifting or at least a way for student government to be more accessible and transparent for you. Thanks for reading.
It has been a goal of mine, and L&L generally, to make student government more active, more responsive, more representative and more involved in student life at Osgoode. To that end we have made a conscious effort to support, in person, more student events. We are out of office next week and yet last night a few of us were at the Flaming Feminist Cabaret supporting Women’s Caucus (go next year cause flaming means hot, and it was). Whoever takes over next year I implore you to be involved, as a partner and ally, in as many student events as possible. Now this can be treacherous if not done with tact; you don’t want to hog all the limelight, so with care, be there and support. Student events are the lifeblood of the school, student government is not, always remember your place.
Great student events require solid funding. This year we handed out record numbers in financial support to student clubs. I do not have the figures in front of me but it was upwards of $35,000 for the year. We did this because guess what, it is student money! The vast majority of funds in the L&L coffers are student levy fees. It was our opinion that we transfer as much of this back to students as possible. I am proud of the job we all did on this front. Is there room to improve? Definitely. L&L needs to have funds available for registered clubs as of the first day of school, not three weeks later. We need to have clear yes and no categories of what we can and cannot pay for.
Speaking of cash-money, we re-opened the JCR. Sorry for the delay. Despite my socialist leanings, I have learnt how terribly frustrating and detrimental to entrepreneurialism government bureaucracy is. But, we have been in the JCR for a few months now. It is a work in progress I agree, but my hat goes off to Dave Meirovici for his professionalism and to all the students who class or no class came in on Thursday’s. The future of the JCR was realized when the Big Ass Drag Show transformed the space into something remarkable, I cannot wait to see what the future holds. To the new student government please keep prices low, the idea of the JCR is to be an easily accessible space that benefits students, not the budget of L&L. If patron shots ever go above $6.00 holler at me, I know a thing or two about protests and occupations.
How about some fails and wishes for the future? I probably will have more if the referendum does not pass but that’s “next week Dave’s” problem. I wish we had done more to address the high cost of tuition. I am forever thinking about a young girl I met at C.W. Jeffery’s during one of my LAWS sessions this year. She simply asked how much law school cost to which I replied “$20,000 a year.” She laughed and the idea of going to law school was, in my opinion, wiped out of that 15 year olds mind right then and there. We pay too much. It’s prohibitive. While I commend the efforts of the administration to secure bursaries and support funding, there needs to be a discussion on why we can’t freeze or lower the cost of tuition. Bursary funding is great but that comes once you are here. I think there are too many people like that young girl who don’t even consider it because of the base cost. That future funding may be available to help you once you are in does not take away from the terror of having to sign off on a $60,000 line of credit. Please future government, ask the question: why do we pay so much?
Another point where we could have done better: Bill C-10. Despite the near unanimous vote and on L&L/SC and the just over 300 signatures from students I wish the issue had played out differently. I learnt a valuable lesson after a poorly worded email. To be honest, I just thought it was such a no-brainer that this was a terrible bill; I never meant to shove my ideas on anyone. That misstep tainted the issue and allowed a counter-attack that in my opinion was loud and successful, to a degree. If, sorry when, more dubious legislation that engages issues we as law students ought to be engaged on, I would advocate for a more collaborative approach from the beginning. L&L should open discussions but step back and listen to others and then help the student body come to some position. It is our constitutional right, no duty, to take positions as a student government on important issues that affect our community. I would encourage working alongside student clubs to achieve more support. This is not to take away from what we did, it was a first step in the right direction and I am in awe of those that took an active roll.
With regards to the active role taken by student government this year, it is something that makes me smile ear to ear. The progressive and engaged stance we have taken this year is unlike anything I have seen while at Osgoode. We rallied against violence against women, promoted gender bending with a drag show, proposed a new position to focus squarely on equity issues, fought for academic freedom on Faculty Council, seriously debated the library as public space, and much more. From individual student concerns about York Security harassing students to committing to reduce the cost of the Dean’s Formal, student government was an advocate for all students at all times this year. It was truly remarkable to be a part of. I think the sheer number of candidates contesting almost all positions this year demonstrates our success in engaging students. Last year, L&L had one contested position.
It has been an absolute honour to be your president this year. I have had the opportunity to meet many people that I would not have had I not been in this position. You are all remarkable and inspire me to work hard every day. There has been nothing more fun or exhilarating than serving you. To my successor, get in there, get your hands dirty and thrive off the energy that students toss your way. Support diversity, not just of people, but of ideas as well. Keep student government honest, keep it open and keep it active in our community. You cannot please all the people all the time, but if you do your job with integrity, modesty and with student interests in mind, you will do a great job.
Thank you all for your support.
Peace, I’m out.