UVSS board fills committees and debates Remembrance Day statement at first November meeting
Photo by Belle White.
The UVSS Board of Directors met for an online meeting over Zoom on Nov 3, 2025 to discuss several issues, including appointing Board representatives to committee member positions.
The meeting began with a land acknowledgement by Griffin Foster, Director of Outreach & University Relations and Chair of the UVSS Board of Directors.
In addition to the updated agenda was a proposed statement by UVSS for Remembrance Day on Nov 11. The statement was not previously available, but was made available in the Zoom chat for immediate review by board members. The motion to amend the agenda was met with all in favour.
The previous meeting’s minutes from Oct 20 were also approved unanimously with no amendments. As there were no presentations or additional motions, the meeting was moved to priority business.
The Service Group Policy was updated to feature regulations about the Committee Terms of Reference which notes duties and responsibilities of groups such as the Anti-Violence Project (AVP) Committee, Food Bank Committee, and Peer Support Centre (PSC) Committee.
Changes were also made to the preamble of the Service Groups Policy, defining Service groups recognized by UVSS. The UVSS Food Bank and PSC are both recognized service groups under these definitions.
Nominations, open committee positions
The positions in question were the Events Committee, Policy Development Committee, International Student Relations Committee, and the AVP Committee. Each committee requires one representative member from the UVSS board, with the exception of AVP, which requires two UVSS directors.
Pride Collective representative Jayce Kusardi nominated themselves for a position with the Events Committee. Kusardi was not met with any opposition, and was appointed chair of the Events Committee.
All voted in favour of Directors Michael Caryk and Katie King were appointed members to the AVP Committee.
The positions for Policy Development Committee and International Student Relations Committee were not met with any nominations, thus remaining open for appointment at later meetings. Foster noted the position for the International Student Relations Committee has been repeatedly tabled and remains a “problem” and a “point of consideration”.
In addition to the available UVSS committee positions, two members were proposed for the UVic Committee for the Faculty of Health Council. The council requires two undergraduate students enrolled in a program in the Faculty of Health.
Lily Yuz Yeo, Director-at-Large, self nominated themselves to the council position. Caryk expressed interest in a complimentary position to Yeo, however did not commit, citing uncertainty of time commitments in addition to his role as Interim Director of Campaigns and Community Relations.
Remembrance Day Statement
Caryk acted as volunteer chair for the prepared statement on Remembrance Day motion by the UVSS, given that Foster –– who usually serves as chair –– proposed this motion.
The motion by UVSS “recognizes and commemorates the sacrifices made by Canadians in historical conflicts, mostly the first and second World Wars.”
The motion was met with opposition by UVSS Policy Research and Communications Manager Errin Johnston-Watson, who said that the UVSS communications team did not have ample time to review the statement prior to the beginning of the board meeting, but did in the five minute review period of amendments to the agenda.
Johnston-Watson said that the UVSS making statements about past conflicts, without making statements about current conflicts, would “face serious backlash” from the UVic and greater community.
Lindsey Andrew, UVSS Director of Events, agreed with the concern of passing statements through the communications team before releasing them, in addition to concerns about grammatical errors in the initial paragraph of the statement. Andrew also expressed concern about the use of the word “extracted” in reference to the impact of other world conflicts following the First World War, stating the use of the word is confusing.
Foster received these comments and gave reasoning for providing a statement by the UVSS, with respect to any disagreement from community members in regard to contemporary conflict. Foster also explained there was a “time crunch” of additional tasks following the previous Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Oct 28.
Johnston-Watson highlighted that the UVSS traditionally does a content pause on Remembrance Day, with the rare exception of emergency situations such as a toxic drug advisory, and that even without an official statement by the student society it does recognize the date.
Students of Colour Collective (SOCC) representative Roven Brooks-Stephenson echoed the comments by Johnston-Watson about the context of other statements regarding conflicts in past years, believing the student society should “stay consistent”. Ultimately, the motion was defeated.
Following the motion on the proposed statement, an additional question was posed by a student about updates to the UVSS’s endorsement of a Parking Petition, originally published on July 5, 2022. Foster stated there were not any updates on hand to provide, however the matter could be brought up at the following board meeting. Following this issue there were no further questions.
Reports
Statements were provided by Committees and Councils. UVSS General Manager Dale Robertson provided an update on the UVSS financial audit continuing, in addition to the presentation by Jonah Arnold, Director of Finance and Operations, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Arnold thanked the board as well as the Finance and Operations committee for passing the proposed budget and audit review of past years.
Caryk noted an anticipated meeting with the transit commission as well as student lobby week, where Caryk expressed excitement to discuss student affordability with other student governments.
Foster commended the AGM for reaching 264 attendees, as quoted by the Martlet, which he claimed is the highest attendance in eight years. Andrew also stated a high attendance at student events in the past weeks, specifically the Free Hot Lunch program, which featured such high participation it led to “some crowd control issues.”
Andrew said this was a positive reflection of the student community’s awareness of the event.
Georgia DeSouza, Board Representative of the Gender Empowerment Centre (GEM), also referenced a high attendance at the GEM Annual General Meeting, surpassing quorum.
Brooks-Stephenson, SOCC representative, also commented on the success of previous events, citing the Building Equity and Mindfulness (BEAM) event at the end of November and the hiring of an education coordinator.
SOCC is still seeking to hire an outreach representative and make plans for their Global Village cultural exhibition in February 2026.
The next meeting by the Board of Directors will be Monday, Nov 17, in person at the Student Union Building (SUB).
