Students at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus will have greater representation on the 2015-16 Wilfrid Laurier University Student’s Union board of directors.
While two of the 12 director positions are reserved for Brantford students, this year for the first time, more Brantford students will be sitting at the board table.
During campaign periods in the past there was little activity on the Brantford campus.
“In previous years it’s been a little disappointing,” said Melody Parton, who is running for her second consecutive year and is acclaimed to the board.
“The year before I ran only three people ran and only two were elected on the board, and that’s because two people had to be elected onto the board. Last year myself and Nick DeSumma were acclaimed because there were only two of us, so definitely disappointing.”
Though records may show a low representation from Brantford in years past, a shift in candidates has led to a strong presence in the upcoming election.
“Already there are three directors acclaimed [from Brantford],” said DeSumma, another acclaimed returning board member from Brantford.
“That is more than there’s ever been, and to have that representation, I feel that [these are] the steps that we should be taking. It would just show how much this campus is passionate about these kinds of positions.”
Nick’s brother, Matt DeSumma, has also been acclaimed.
A fourth candidate from Brantford has also confirmed candidacy for the final four unacclaimed positions on the board.
Second-year student Ryley Fletcher was confirmed as of Tuesday at 3 p.m., and is hoping to aid in making Brantford representation in the coming year’s stronger than ever.
With the surge in numbers, representatives are hopeful their roles will encourage and facilitate future involvement from their peers.
“The students in Brantford are really engaged and involved usually,” said Parton. “I think people don’t know what the board is or what it does or that you have to run for a position. And since they don’t know, they don’t prepare.”
A shared goal among candidates is utilizing the increase in Brantford representation to help further communication with the board, both with regard to students at large as well as between the two campuses.
With a greater number of individuals facilitating the flow of information between the Union and the Brantford campus, candidates are hopeful the gap in student awareness and involvement will be closed.
“My big thing is I find that there’s a lack of communication between both campuses, and students have the right to know what’s going on,” said Matt DeSumma.
“We’re all going to the same university here, so everything [in Waterloo] affects us too.”