Throughout their time as Social Issues Commissioners (SIC), Ruth Osunde (internal) and Khadjia Farooq (external) have built a lifelong friendship.
As their roles come to an end, Osunde and Farooq are reflecting on their time as SICs. Their roles are responsible for fostering dialogue, education, and engagement about equity, identity, and anti-oppression issues on campus.
Advocacy has become intertwined with Osunde’s identity as a Black woman.
“When engaging in my role, it’s of the utmost important I don’t abandon my identity as a Black woman,” Osunde said in a statement to The Journal.
For Farooq, her intersectional identity as a South Asian Muslim women guided her inclusive approach to leadership. Farooq hasn’t taken the decisions she’s made as SIC lightly.
“I’m acutely aware of my human limitations and opening myself up to new realities to continue a path of learning is a priority for me as I engage with social issues in my role,” Khadija Farooq said in a statement to The Journal.
The SICs’ time in office didn’t come without challenges. During AMS Assembly in November, the Social Issues Commissioners were criticized for providing inadequate to Jewish students impacted by the war in Gaza.
READ MORE: Palestine agenda item at AMS Assembly pulls crowd
Farooq and Osunde helped executives affected students, Victoria Mills, vice-president (university affairs), told The Journal.
“The reason for it was that we needed to recognize the capacity of the two individuals,” Mills said in a statement to The Journal.
Despite difficulties this year, Osunde is proud of the work SIC has done to make Queen’s a more equitable place. Osunde is especially proud of the Menstrual Equity Project, providing students with easy access to menstrual products on campus.
The SIC will be adding the roles of Marketing Coordinator and Black Initiatives Coordinator to their portfolio to better suit the needs of the students they serve, Osunde explained.
To appreciate and amplify the anti-oppression efforts of Indigenous students, the SICs are developing the new Seven Grandfather Teachings Award. Recipients of the award employ the seven qualities key to the traditional teachings of Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples—wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth.
Osunde, who will assume the role of AMS Vice-President (University Affairs) next year, hopes the incoming SICs keep building on the foundations laid for them. She urges them to rely on each other for in their roles.
“I think the SIC is one of the most rewarding yet complex roles within the AMS. We’re constantly working with students and constantly evolving the commission and our responsibilities to be able to cater to them,” Osunde said.
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