At the February 25 meeting of the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union’s (UTMSU) Board of Directors, executives introduced Felipe Nagata as the new executive director of the UTMSU and updated the attendees on their activities for the last month. They also announced the postponement of the residence town hall, which had been scheduled for February 28. 

New executive director 

Vice-President Internal Wei Lai went over the hiring process for the UTMSU’s executive director, chief returning officer (CRO) and deputy returning officers (DROs). 

The hiring committee consisted of President Mitra Yakubi, Lai, Vice-President Equity Ryan Tomlinson, and non-voting member Nour Alideeb. The committee received eight applications for the executive director position. 

After being narrowed down through interviews, Athisaya Satgururajah was hired as the new CRO, Chelsea Reys and Regelle Dumlao as the DROs, and Felipe Nagata as the new executive director. Nagata is a former president of the UTMSU and chairperson of Canadian Federation of Students​​–Ontario.

Upcoming events

Yakubi gave an update on the residence town hall that the UTMSU has been planning to hold. Although it was originally supposed to be held on February 28, the UTMSU postponed the event because “​​members of [U of T] administration decided that they would not be attending the meeting.” 

Yakubi explained that it wasn’t feasible for them to still hold the session at the original time, because the point of the event was for students to be able to give one-on-one feedback to the members of the administration. It will be rescheduled for a date when both students and administrators can attend. 

In addition, the union is doing advocacy during the week of March 21 for Sustainability Week, and will hold Mental Health Awareness Week from March 28 to April 1. 

Members also discussed the UTMSU elections, which are happening this month. The voting period will start on March 15 and will end on March 17. 

Executive reports

The executive team also gave updates on the work they have been doing for the past month. 

Merica Joy Carlos, vice-president university affairs, confirmed that the UTMSU’s research symposium will be judged by Nagata; UTM’s Vice-Principal, Academic and Dean Rhonda McEwen; Tenley Conway, a professor in the geography department; and Michael Lettieri, UTM’s vice-dean, academic experience and a professor in language studies. 

Maëlis Barre, the UTMSU’s vice-president external, explained her actions with the Safe Return to Campus Campaign, which held a multiple banner drop and a phone zap. The housing committee also held a meeting with the city councillor to talk about housing priorities for students. 

Tomlinson went over the seven events that the UTMSU held for Black History Month, which included a talk from Professor Julius Haag in the Department of Sociology about racism in the judicial system and the Black History Month closing ceremony on February 28, which included a game of Family Feud and an open mic night. 

Tomlinson further said that the UTMSU has received a lot of feedback from students about the necessity of consent training, so it held an event about combatting sexual violence on campus for the general student population over reading week.