Luke Victor Warren is a third-year Digital Enterprise Management student running for Vice-President Internal as an independent candidate. His position is one of two contested executive races.
He said that he previously also served as an associate to the VP Internal and as an assistant to the Board of Directors.
When asked about his decision to run, Warren said, “I’ve been a part of the UTMSU for two years, I’ve worked a lot with the union.” He added that “all of my fondest memories have always been because of the union and I’m running because it’s about time I give back to the community that’s done so much for me.”
“I feel the impacts of rising tuition, I feel that there’s a lot of issues that students are facing,” said Warren. “I personally come from a low-income background… I just want to continue the good work that the UTMSU does.”
Warren said that he knows how much work the role takes and has “basically been doing the job,” which to him entails managing human resources, arranging meetings, conducting outreach, and being active within the UTM community.
Warren adds that he would like to push for changes similar to the course retake policy passed earlier this year during his term, to “help students in their academics [and] not feel so punished by mistakes that they make.”
Warren would “reduce redundancies” to offset changes in the union budget as a result of the Ford government’s changes to postsecondary education funding.
As for implementing a new health and dental plan following the UTMSU’s separation from the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), Warren responded, “You just go out and find a new plan, it’s not impossible.”
“I know that people were upset [about the unions’ separation],” said Warren. “However it won’t be a impossible to find a new [plan].”
“Yes, [the UTSU] gave us the Health and Dental Plan, but aside from that… it was almost like a weird relationship, like you’re dragging a dead horse around.”
