Hey Carleton! My name is Arpita Dar and I’m running to be your next CUSA president with my team Real Leadership. I am a third-year law student and I am the current vice-president (programming) for the Rideau River Residence Association.
Being on Carleton residence for three years now, I can honestly say Carleton is not only my school but it is also my home. Being new to Ottawa and not knowing anybody here was a nerve-racking thought but then fall orientation happened, I got to know my floor and I could not imagine anywhere else I would have rather been.
I first got involved on campus by running to be a floor representative and I noticed that I could bring real change to residence. This is when I decided to run for VPP. As VPP, I hosted more events than ever before. After partnering with different clubs and societies and student services, my team was able to host more than 50 events during our time in office!
After two years of being VPP at RRRA, my team and I also managed to save residence students over $800,000 by identifying an unnecessary room phone fee. I am so proud of my team for keeping the promises we have made to students during our time at RRRA.
As I have started to get to know more people at Carleton, I have created many valuable friendships and the people here have become my family. I want what is best for this family. I want to make a real difference on campus by reducing executive salaries and putting the money back into benefiting students. Putting money back into our clubs and societies, student services, and more programming for students should be a priority for any student leader.
I want a home that makes its members a priority. We have a chance to make this a reality. There are some uncomfortable truths we will need to face, but together we can choose to make a real difference on campus, so we have a home we can all be proud of.
