Gabriella MenezesThe ambitious nature of the vice-president (academic) (VPA) candidates was clear at the International Students’ Association (ISA) forum on February 28. Unfortunately, that may only set them up for failure. During the ISA forum, Aamir Mohamed, Manyu Rathour, and Katie Tamsett all had a strong ambition for bringing the absolute most to the VPA position. I can admire them for that, but making so many promises may lead to a feeling of being let down in the future.
At the forum, the VPA candidates expressed intentions to tackle the issues that international students face. This includes the limited academic resources international students have when navigating the U of A. I believe their desire to have more resources is very admirable — hopefully, they will be able to obtain them.
Near the end of the ISA forum, I asked the VPA candidates if they believed their ambitious platforms could realistically be achieved. Each VPA has limited time and resources to work with and the responses I received varied. Ultimately, their answers left me worried about what actions they will actually take in the future. Each candidate only had one minute to answer the question, which can make it challenging to get out every idea. Still, I was left disappointed and concerned.
Rathour stated that VPA candidates should be in pursuit of fulfilling all the promises they have made on their platforms. Quite obviously, this leaned heavily towards the main goals that VPA-elect strives for. However, he ended his answer more in his own territory. Rathour did acknowledge the limited resources that I mentioned. But then he returned to his own ideas of the reallocation and transparency of funds. The answer I received was rather vague and seemed to be more focused on his own platform than real action. This is exactly what concerns me.
Next, Tamsett came with a strong statement that she “[doesn’t] believe in words, [she] believes in action.” But the statement she gave, while important, bypassed the question asked. Regardless, she expressed a desire to build upon the current resources that are in place and add to those resources with things students truly need. As a whole, it felt like Tamsett was following alongside the question but veered away to promote her platform.
Mohamed was the final VPA candidate to answer and followed in suit with Tamsett’s ideas. By building off of Tamsett, Mohamed strayed further away from the original question I asked. While he spoke, he largely repeated Tamsett’s ideas about building upon resources and adding new resources students need. Altogether, candidates left me with a lackluster feeling.
All three of the VPA candidates do have a strong desire for change. But that strong desire can only go so far. All I hope is that whoever becomes next VPA understands how much can actually be done. A year is not a lot of time. It may not be enough to make the rather large changes all of the VPA candidates are restless to achieve.
