By Alanna Rizza
Two Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) equity centres are campaigning for additional funding to improve the services provided to the Ryerson community.
The Sexual Assault Survivor Support Line (SASSL) and the Good Food Centre (GFC) are asking full-time students to support a referendum of a $5 per student levy in the fall and winter semesters.
If approved, every full-time undergraduate and graduate student would pay $2.50 for each centre per semester that would go towards increasing the hours of both centres, creating additional workshops as well as enhancing the programs and trainings of the employees and volunteers.
The SASSL is a hotline that provides peer-to-peer support for students who have experienced gender-based violence, and this is the first year it’s running as its own equity centre. The GFC works to reduce the impact of food insecurity for Ryerson community members and it serves about 600 students each year. They are two out of the seven RSU equity service centres.
The campaign “ Feed Students Support Survivors” comes after an increase in demand of the service centres as well as a survey that consulted Ryerson students about what programing and support they would like to access including workshops on food security, a text line for SASSL and drop-in support spaces. The referendum was approved by the Ryerson Board of Governors, which oversees matters such as property, revenue and how the university conducts its business and external affairs, on Sept. 28.
The referendum amount will be adjusted based on the Toronto Consumer Price Index, which measures the average price of consumer goods and services and shows the increase per year.
Full-time students can vote for the referendum at my.ryerson.ca at 8 a.m. on Nov. 6 until 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 9.
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