By Sean Wetselaar
More than 100 students came together for the Ryerson Student’s Union (RSU) Semi-Annual General Meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting was held to give the student body a chance to vote on initiatives that the RSU will take part in over the next six months.
Many students at the meeting said they were there to campaign for more multi-faith space on campus. The motion carried almost unanimously.
There is one multi-faith room used for prayer in the Student Campus Centre (SCC) but it is no longer large enough to accommodate the student body, said Rodney Diverlus, vice-president of equity.
“It’s our philosophy [and] it’s our understanding that part of campus life is actually accommodating to different students’ needs,” Diverlus said. “We’re seeing the demand for the space outpace the amount of [multi-faith] space that we have.”
A motion also passed for the RSU to provide support for the potential Ryerson radio station, which was recently approved by students after a campus-wide referendum.
The referendum voted in favour of providing the funds needed to apply for the frequency, and accordingly to Alyssa Williams, vice-president of student life and events, the results motivated the RSU to support it.
“Now that we know that a lot of students want this we’re happy to empower and [support] it,” Williams said.
They RSU will also be launching a campaign against gender-based violence in conjunction with the Women’s Centre.
“[Women] are constantly told that it is up to us to protect ourselves against sexual assault,” said Liana Salvador, who moved the motion.
The union will be launching a sexual assault support line on campus in January as part of the campaign.
“I think there is a huge need on this campus for us to actually raise awareness about sexual assault,” said Salvador. “We need to start talking about it.”
The RSU also created a committee to improve student space in the SCC after the motion passed in favour of it.
The committee includes the RSU executive members and five students who were elected at the meeting.
Eyeopener file photo
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