Tinu Akinwande is a third-year political science and African studies student. She is running to be Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)’s next vice-president (student issues) as part of the Students First slate.
Previous experiences
At 17 years old, Akinwande became involved in social advocacy by founding her own conference titled “Black Brilliance.” She said the conference “seeks to acknowledge the trials and triumphs that black students face within the education system and outwards.” Now in its fourth year, the conference has spread to schools across Southern Ontario and Nova Scotia.
At Carleton, Akinwande is currently the program coordinator at the Womxn’s Centre, which advocates for women, femme-aligned, and non-binary folks. She said bringing a spotlight to the struggles of these students resonates with her as a marginalized student herself.
Reasons for running
Akinwande said she believes she is the “perfect candidate” for the vice-president (student issues) position because she wants to make long-lasting change at Carleton.
“I don’t only want to create change, but I want to sustain it,” she said. “It really makes me happy to do that.”
She added her empathy for others and passion for intersectional approaches to issues will help her include all students at Carleton.
“I don’t just look at my specific community,” she said. “And with having myself included in spaces that have those little groups and envelopes that want to create their own mini changes, I feel like I can create a bigger change.”
Slate or independent?
“The thought process [behind running in a slate] was at the end of the day, I just really want to serve the Carleton community and Carleton students,” Akinwande said.
“Even though we have distinct points in our own portfolios, we still want to put students first,” she continued. “We literally had one vision, so that’s where we’re just like, honestly, let’s do this as a team.”
“Teamwork, to be honest, makes the dream work—even though that’s so cliché.”
Campaign goals
Akinwande’s main platform points include pop-up clinics, food security, and inclusive communities.
“The wait times are outrageous,” Akinwande said of Health and Counselling services. “So I just sat down and said ‘Yo, why can’t we just bring the clinics here at Carleton?”
Akinwande said the clinics would include tests for sexually-transmitted infections and provide flu shot vaccines. She also said massage chairs could be implemented on-campus as well to alleviate stress during exam and midterms.
Akinwande said she also hopes to strengthen the resources available at the Food Centre, CUSA’s on-campus food bank, and add new food security initiatives for students.
“Some students—they have groceries—but they don’t have the time to cook,” Akinwande continued. “So to have meal vouchers that they could cash in at any CUSA business… that would be really beneficial.”
Lastly, Akinwande said she hopes to continue her advocacy work from the Womxn’s Centre on issues such as mental health stigma and wellness, sustainability, sexual health, and the university’s sexual violence policy.
Final thoughts
Akinwande said it’s important that students look at all of the policy points ahead of voting to learn about issues they may not have known about before.
“Actually get into the platform points that some of the candidates are doing,” she said. “Maybe one really resonates with you, maybe you didn’t know it was a problem before, but it’s a problem now.”
“Your voice really matters here,” Akinwande added. “It’s your Carleton experience. You pay for it. So you might as well make it a really, really good one.”
Featured image by Tim Austen.
