Kathleen Weary, a third-year global and international studies student with a specialization in global law and social justice, is running as a presidential candidate in the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) 2020 elections as part of the Students First slate.
Previous experiences
Weary is the founder of Climate Action Carleton and helped organize students for the global climate strike that took place on Parliament Hill earlier in the year. She is also the director of activism for Student Energy and is on CUSA’s sustainability advisory council.
Weary has also been on the rowing team since her first year at Carleton, though not currently, and is a peer mentor with the Student’s Experience Office. Over the summer, she took part in a United Nations international internship program and was a junior policy advisor at the Canadian mission to the United Nations.
Reasons for running
Through her involvement with various climate and sustainability-related initiatives on campus, Weary said she has come to know CUSA and the “power of the student voice” well.
“I wanted to get involved with that because I think that’s the best way we can get involved on campus,” she said, adding that she has “really ambitious ideas” for climate justice at a campus-wide level.
Slate or independent?
Weary said she worked closely with a few of the members of Students First when organizing the climate strike, and came to really “respect their work ethic.”
“I decided I wanted to get involved with them and kind of ask them how elections work, and eventually I’ve now become a candidate.”
Campaign goals
If elected, Weary says she will partner with the university to renovate the bathrooms on campus, specifically in the University Centre, making them cleaner and more accessible to students with disabilities and implementing more gender-inclusive bathrooms.
Weary is also planning on introducing a Carleton green new deal, which would include lobbying the university to divest from fossil fuels, implementing a virtual sustainability impact hub, and creating a climate action fund so climate initiatives would be accessible to all students, especially Indigenous ones.
Being on CUSA’s sustainability advisory committee, Weary says she has seen really good ideas.
“But it’s hard with just volunteers to have enough momentum to actually make a change or hire students for that position,” she said, adding that this is a problem the sustainability impact hub would aim to address.
Weary also plans on implementing an emergency funding service for students who find themselves “in a really sudden tight situation,” who could then request an emergency funding grant from CUSA.
Weary also wants to improve support for Indigenous students, such as by acting on some of the 41 specific calls to actions, based on the Truth and Reconciliation Committee report released in 2016, made by the Carleton committee.
“My team wants to implement the ones that have to do with student life, so some of those would be advocating for the university to provide more funding for Indigenous initiatives,” she said, as well as advocating for professors to include Indigenous components, knowledge and history into their class contents and syllabus.
Weary also hopes to implement inclusive initiatives, much like the rainbow crosswalk on campus unveiled in 2019, which Weary says is important for students who are part of minorities to “feel included.”
Final thoughts
“I have a diverse portfolio of involvement within the community,” said Weary, ranging from sports teams to connections with first-year students to social justice.
Weary also urged students not to underestimate the importance of voting and being heard.
“Actually, CUSA can have a lot of influence on campus. The CUSA executives meet with administration, many of their ideas have been very efficiently implemented,” she said, like the renovation of Ollie’s.
“I guess that would be my call to action: for students to vote. Also, talk to your friends about who you’re voting for and why.”
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
