COUNCILLOR

Zoe Lazaris

This year, some of my goals were to progress the movement to get Vic to divest from fossil fuels, continue to push for affordability, and continue work on getting a more trauma-informed and student centered protocol for mental health crises.

In terms of divestment, most of my work came from within the Board of Regents (BoR). I continue to bring up divestment at every meeting, and have been heavily pushing for divestment of the Weyburn Oil well as it falls under my purview as a member of the property committee.

With affordability, the VPE portfolio has been researching and comparing prices of meal plans and residences at other colleges. On the BoR, I (along with all the other student representatives) voted against the increase to student fees. We spoke at length at the meeting about how the administration should not be pushing increased costs off to students. I also published my article (along with Shane and Kate) about the end of Stephenson house, the past affordable housing option at Vic.

For the mental health response, I have been working with Students for Collective resistance to research alternatives that better care for student mental health. I also spoke with Provost of UofT about coming up with a police-free alternative to responding to mental health emergencies.