This story was updated on Jan. 22, 2024 at 8:19 p.m.
Dawood Tullah, Law ’26, is running for SGPS president with a plan to tackle Queen’s graduate and professional students’ toughest challenges head-on.
Running uncontested for the next President of the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS), Tullah has developed a platform centred on tackling systemic issues in student governance, promoting transparency, collaboration, and advocating for practical solutions to challenges like housing, transportation, and food security.
Tullah recalls the constant strife between graduate students and the University was never an issue during his former years as an undergraduate student at Queen’s, but the attitudes have changed since.
“I’ve been here since 2014, and I’ve seen attitudes surrounding Queen’s istration change drastically—what once felt like a golden time of bliss has now become a period of consistent mismanagement with budgetary issues and lack of economic for students,” Tullah said in an interview with The Journal.
If elected, Tullah’s primary focus would be fostering collaboration by meeting with the elected team and engaging with graduate and professional students to prioritize their voices in decision-making.
“Running for President has taught me that leadership isn’t about taking on everything alone—it requires collaboration,” Tullah said.
Tullah plans to address the economic challenges faced by Queen’s students by leveraging alumni networks for alternative funding sources, creating employment opportunities, and raising awareness about diverse career paths through job fairs and professional development initiatives.
“The SGPS should raise awareness about diverse career paths and create plans to guide students toward opportunities, such as targeted job fairs and enhanced faculty engagement in professional development,” Tullah said.
Beyond careers, Tullah emphasizes the importance of addressing immediate concerns like transportation, housing, and childcare. He advocates for exploring other avenues of funding to address economic stability, ensuring students can have the choice to opt-out of transportation fees, and providing accessible childcare resources to remove educational barriers for students with families.
For instance, the SGPS provides childcare through the Queen’s Day Care Centre, which offers full and half-day care for children from birth to four years old at two sites on campus, from Mondays through Fridays year-round for the University community.
According to Tullah, advocacy involves a two-tiered approach of students interests through general and specific representations. For Tullah, this could look like a student in a dispute with a professor or navigating accommodation barriers—he explains SGPS qualify for legal aid services through Queen’s Legal Aid, where they provide legal advice and representation for eligible individuals to address such specific issues.
“In addition to tackling advocacy challenges, food security should be addressed through subsidized meal plans, especially when food options on campus are costly, and further conversations with the university are needed to explore other funding opportunities to students facing economic difficulties,” Tullah said.
To ensure ability as president, Tullah emphasizes transparency, explaining he will provide periodic reports to students through letters and verbal communications on SGPS affairs, such as initiatives and advocacy the SGPS is pushing for. According to Tullah, honesty, even when it means itting mistakes and explaining any future lack of transparency, is part of being an executive.
To make a lasting impact, Tullah has specific goals about improving the current student government by removing false narratives surrounding the SGPS and its operations. He believes the SGPS presence needs to be elevated to combat the perception that is a background entity, particularly among the graduate and professional students who may not see it as relevant.
“This isn’t just about noise for the sake of being heard—it’s about being present as a resource and ensuring that the SGPS plays an active role in student life while balancing this with the bigger challenges like economic and professional opportunities,” Tullah said. “I want to leave a lasting impact that helps students not only today but also in the future.”
Tullah seeks to establish trust and inspire confidence among SGPS students by delivering on his promises, striving to build a reputation of integrity and garner across every department and faculty.
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