Get involved with the Capilano Students’ Union this Fall
Bridget Stringer-Holden // Contributor
There are various ways in which students can get involved, yet one of the best routes is through the CSU. The Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) is the student society on campus that represents students and advocates and tackles the various issues that are crucial to improving students’ quality of life. In order to ensure that students have the best university experience possible, the CSU hosts multiple events throughout the year, provides many volunteer opportunities, and offers a wide range of services, such as the used book sale and health and dental plans.
This fall, the Community Expo and Captivate are the two major events that the CSU will be hosting. The Community Expo will be held on September 3rd. In this exciting event, a showcase of what Capilano University has to offer will be open to new and returning students. Through booths and games, students will be able to explore and discover various volunteer opportunities, clubs, campaigns and services. Paula Zerpa, the Vice-President of Student Life, has been working to bring back Captivate for its third year on the 19th of September, which will be held in the Cedar Courtyard.
“I felt that in my classes I was doing research and writing papers about a lot of social justice issues that we, as students, face, and I felt frustrated because there I was learning about all those things, yet I wanted to make a difference and wanted to actually work towards making things better,” said Emily Bridge, President and Vice-President of Equity and Sustainability on the CSU Board of Directors. When a previous Board member approached Bridge, she realized that this was an opportunity to finally take all the theory she’d been learning in school and apply it to truly making a difference. “By being involved with the Capilano Students’ Union, I can help affect change right here on campus and can directly see the results of our advocacy,” she said.
There are various upcoming volunteer opportunities, many of which students can explore at the Community Expo, such as the Let’s Get Consensual and the Get Out the Vote campaigns. In preparation for the federal election, the Get Out the Vote campaign will be in full swing this fall, with the goal of ensuring that everyone feels empowered to vote. The by-election for the vacant positions on the CSU Board of Directors is coming up as well. The call for nominations will be released on September 9th.
“I think that it’s important for students to get involved and at least be aware of what the CSU is doing because we represent them to the university and to local, provincial and federal governments. We are their voice here at Capilano University,” said Bridge.
If students have more specific questions or need any assistance, the CSU offices are located in the Maple Building at the North end of campus. For a more central location, there is also a desk in the CSU Member Centre in the library with staff who are always open to chat and help students. To receive electronic updates about new volunteer opportunities, students can sign up for the volunteer program online at csu.bc.ca as well.
Sometimes it is difficult to know where to start, yet “if [students] don’t get involved, then we don’t know what they need. So, it’s really to their credit to get involved or at least come to Board meetings and see what’s going on,” said Bridge, who started by attending Board meetings and talking to the members. The next Board meeting is on Friday, September 13th in Birch 126 from 2:30pm to 5:30pm. All new and returning students are welcome to participate in Board meetings, or simply observe. As well, students are encouraged to attend committee meetings and to join committees as students-at-large so that they may bring their voices to the table. “That’s what we’re here for,” said Bridge. “We’re here to represent everybody and we want to represent everybody; that’s the goal.”