Across the globe, people from every background and walk of life are realizing that Mother Earth and her beings are in grave danger. Without a healthy Earth Mother, we will not have our basic needs met: nutritious food, freshwater, and safe shelter. We must fulfill these basic needs before we can be creative, innovative, economically viable, and to be of service to others.

I teach people to respect the old ways while embracing congruent contemporary ones. I encourage young and old to nurture the very best inside themselves and to build bridges rather than focus on differences.

For the past few years, we have been reflecting on how the USSU could best represent you and help create a better campus community. Our strategic goals moving forward are to Promote Education, Revitalize Community, Decolonize Systems, and Facilitate Leadership.

For information regarding the Path Forward and the USSU Knowledge Keeper, email president@ussu.ca

As the student voice to university administration, and the provincial and federal government, it is our responsibility to advocate for accessible and equitable education. We plan to promote student rights and responsibilities throughout the year in our advocacy. The USSU works with the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities (UCRU) in an alliance of students’ unions in Canada. Our common objective is to protect the interests and advocate on behalf of over 240,000 undergraduate university students from Canada’s largest research-intensive universities (U15) and provide research and recommendations to the government on improving post-secondary education in Canada.

We want to enhance our outreach and encourage a healthy, safe, involved, and engaged student body while celebrating interconnectedness. Our executive team plans to connect across campus throughout the year to provide students with an avenue to meet us and discuss their needs or concerns. The USSU operates several centres for enhancing your experience. These centres include the Women’s Centre, Pride Centre, Help Centre, and Food Centre. The USSU centres are open to all students and provide resources, support, and services in a warm and positive atmosphere. The centres’ events and campaigns are a vital part of the USSU’s outreach. We want to commit to expanding our presence on campus with students. The culture we want to foster among students is one where we encourage and celebrate one another’s achievements and success.

With guidance from our Elders and Knowledge Keepers, we seek to evaluate how our practices can be improved to be more inclusive and reflective of our campus. We will ensure the University of Saskatchewan honours commitments of Decolonization, Indigenization, and Reconciliation and that the voices and experiences of Indigenous people are amplified in this ongoing journey. We will call on governments to play their roles in these efforts so students from Indigenous communities have accessible, equitable, and quality post-secondary education enriched with traditional practices and languages and taught from the lens of Indigenous people.

We plan to examine the barriers preventing students from taking on leadership roles and being involved on campus. We want to create an atmosphere where students want to be a part of all the amazing opportunities the USSU offers. Whether it be volunteering at the centres, being a member of our committees, being a centre coordinator, representing your college or community, or becoming an executive member. Increasing awareness of these positions and getting more students involved will help the USSU be a better students’ union. 

All our activities this year will be associated with these four themes. We encourage students that have questions or concerns to reach out to us, as we will be more than happy to meet with you and talk about anything that interests you. We’re excited about The Path Forward, and we hope that you will be too.