Student fee hikes and a reimagined Orientation Mystery Concert marked the first Assembly of the semester.
elected in a de-slated process although the election season began in slates.
At the AMS Annual General Meeting last April, AMS executives and faculty society leaders unanimously voted to amend section 2.2.2 of the AMS Constitution. Beginning this academic year, candidates for President, Vice-President (Operations), and Vice-President (University Affairs) run individually rather than in teams, as demonstrated at the recent Assembly which also ratified new student activity fees and fee increases. These fees will be included on the ballot for the AMS executive election on Jan. 29 and 30. Assembly also discussed potential changes to the Orientation Roundtable (ORT) Concert and proposed fee adjustments to the Bus-It Program.
Assembly’s theme was “ing the Holocaust” ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27. of Hillel Queen’s delivered a presentation on the theme touching on Kristallnacht—a night where Nazi leaders unleashed a series of pogroms against the Jewish population , destroying Jewish-owned stores, businesses, and homes—and antisemitism in Canada during WWII and into the present.
The presentation was followed by a moment of silence in remembrance of the six million Jewish people who lost their lives during the Holocaust.
“As we sit in silence, let’s honour their memory, reflect on their courage and remind ourselves of our responsibility to stand up against hate and ensure that never again truly means never again,” one of the presenters said.
After the presentation, it was announced to Assembly that the Chair of the AMS Board of Directors Jason Kim, Comm ’25, has resigned as of Jan. 16. His responsibilities have been assumed by former Vice-Chair of the Board, Gurisha Sahni, ArtSci ’26. The reason for the former chair’s resignation wasn’t mentioned.
Ahead of elections, Assembly ratified Rebekah Feldman, ArtSci ’25, who assumed the role of chief electoral officer in December. Feldman wasn’t present during Assembly.
During executive reports, AMS President Owen Rocchi addressed ongoing delays from the JDUC project team, reaffirming the AMS has no plans to prepare for a JDUC move in the near future. He echoed the t statement issued by the AMS and SGPS on Jan. 14, which outlined their frustrations with the project.
Ratifications
As the AMS executive race begins, Assembly ratified five potential executives: Presidential candidates Jana Amer, HealthSci ’26, and Nicolas David Brasset Duque, ArtSci ’25; Vice-President (University Affairs) candidates Alyssa Perisa, ArtSci ’25, and Dreyden George, ArtSci ’26; and Vice-President (Operations) candidate Elena Nurzynski, ArtSci ’25.
Running on a platform of accessibility, collaboration, and transparency, current AMS Social Issues Commissioner (Internal) Amer highlighted her extensive experience, having held over 14 positions and eight leadership roles over the span of her three years at Queen’s.
Going head-to-head for the presidency, for the second year in a row, Brasset Duque is up for the running. He cited his involvement in the AMS over the years as a StuCon and part of Walkhome. His four campaign pillars are sustainability, advocacy, engagement, and communication.
In the role of Vice-President (University Affairs), Perisa hopes to improve financial accessibility and student engagement, extend the transition period for AMS roles, and introduce a new executive position. Perisa shared how her experience at the Orientation RoundTable (ORT) concert and as a communications director gave her insight into the vice-president (university affairs) role, which oversees the AMS’s six commissions, including ORT.
Current AMS Commissioner of External Affairs George followed Perisa’s presentation with his platform for the vice-president (university affairs) position which prioritizes transparency, research and consultations, intersectional approaches, building student connections, and advancing relationships. George spoke about his past positions as Social Issues Commissioner (External) and Clubs Commissioner, citing these experiences in explaining his preparedness for the position.
Running uncontested for the position of Vice President (Operations), Nurzynski referenced her experience working as the current head manager of Common Ground Coffeehouse and as a former service staff for the Tricolour Outlet. The pillars of her campaign focus on AMS branding and engagement, community and relationships, ability and efficiency in addition to transparency.
All five candidates were unanimously ratified with no abstentions.
Bus-it and ORT Mystery Concert
Motion 31 sought to remove the Orientation RoundTable Concert (ORT) as an event from orientation. On Oct. 10, the AMS sent out the Orientation Mystery Concert Survey to determine how students feel about the longstanding event. Addressing Assembly, Vice-President (University Affairs) Ruth Osunde explained students’ indicated the cost of the concert is viewed as costly by first-year students.
The survey also found first-year students have a preference for headliners with bigger names, comparing the AMS ORT Mystery Concert to Western’s more popular headliners such as T-Pain.
Following this , Osunde is looking at possible changes to the structure of the event to potentially move it out of the first week and remove it from the purview of ORT and into the Campus Affairs portfolio, in addition to entertaining discussions for a location change to Slush Puppie Place or Richardson Stadium. There’re also conversations about making the concert independent of faculty societies.
“There’s a lot of financial burden that’s placed on the faculty when they’re placing [the Orientation Mystery Concert] on their manager plates. From the that we heard from speaking to faculty society Presidents, is something we didn’t want anymore,” Osunde said.
Osunde mentioned additional ideas include eliminating the “mystery” component of the concert by announcing artists and opening the concert to attendees beyond first years. The motion ed, indicating while the concert will stay, the event will be reworked and given a new name.
Motion 32 discussed the Bus-It Program, a service providing Queen’s students with full-year, affordable access to public transportation via City busses. The motion called a special referendum on the program’s changing fees.
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In his opening executive report at the beginning of the meeting, Vice-President (Operations) Ayan Chowdhury provided an update on the ongoing negotiations with the City of Kingston regarding the Bus-It Program, revealing the City proposed a nearly twofold increase in the bus fee, raising it from $122 to $240 in discussions with the AMS and Society of Graduate and Professional Students.
The Bus-It Program, which has been around since 1974 but paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been a reliable system for students to get around Kingston for free through a mandatory Student Activity Fee. The current Bus-It fee was established in 2022 as a one time mandatory fee for three years.
Within the motion, a proposed question would be on the referendum ballot asking voters to rank their preferred fee structure for the Bus-It Program from four options.
Options include a mandatory fee to retain access to the program, an optional fee that grants students who opt in for a certain time access, a hybrid fee consisting of a specified mandatory fee from Sept. 1 to Apr. 30, and an optional amount during the summer. The final option would be to entirely discontinue the Bus-It Program, requiring students to pay a certain amount to the City of Kingston directly for a bus each semester.
Ultimately, the motion ed, and it was suggested that the referendum would be brought up at the General Assembly on Apr. 7.
AMS elections and referenda voting days are Jan. 29 and 30. Assembly will meet next on Feb. 10.
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