An Interview with Hunter Park, Candidate for First Year Representative

Editor-in-Chief Will Fraser sat down with each of the candidates for 2020-2021 First Year Representative.

Candidate: Hunter Park
Slogan: Let’s make this year like no other, vote for Hunter!

WF: Tell us a bit about yourself and why you decided to run. 

My name is Hunter Park. And I'm from a small island in southern New Brunswick with a population of 2500 people. And I came to StFX because I had visited here a couple times, and I love the community feel. In high school, I was co-President of Student Council. I was vice-president of my class and editor of the yearbook. So, I love being involved and I love student government. I'm a first-year business student at X and I'm staying in MacIsaac Hall, and I'm loving it here. 

WF: Can you tell us what the job of first year rep involves? 

So, the first-year rep to me is to represent the views of everyone in first year, and what they would like done. So basically, advocating for what they want as a group and being there to listen to their opinions and what they'd like to do. 

WF: What is your platform? 

My platform is based on three main points. The first one is equity and diversity. The second one is student involvement and activities. And the third one is safety.  

So, in equity and diversity, I'm openly gay. So I understand how it feels to be left out, and I understand the importance of inclusion on campus and Equity and Diversity being something that StFX strives for, I would love to stand for that as well and it would be my goal to make campus feel like a safe place for everyone. 

So, student activities. I understand there's a house point system here, but not a lot of people know how many points their house has, or what the rankings are and I would like to implement a system whether that be an app or a website, where students can see where their house is standing, and what activities there are to participate in. and saying that I would also like to have more fun activities, while maintaining safe COVID regulations.  

Moving into safety. The main thing that I've heard the students of the class of 2024 want is to reduce restrictions. So, my goal is to maintain a balance between staying safe during COVID, and loosening restrictions as much as safely possible. 

WF: If you can only accomplish one thing on your platform, which would it be? 

If I could only accomplish one thing on my platform, it would be the Student Involvement part. It would be to make it a more fun year for everyone and to listen to what activities and things students would like to do this year. 

WF: The Students’ Union has historically been criticized for being elitist. How will you make The U more open and approachable to students? 

I never had that impression personally of the U, but now that I know that that's a reputation that they have had, I would strive to approach everyone in first year and try to make them comfortable giving input and communicating with the union input in what happens with the union and communicating with me for the union. 

WF: What do you think of StFX’s handling of COVID-19? What would you change? 

I'm very happy that we get to be here in person, and I think that StFX has done a great job with creating a place where we can feel safe. However, there are a few things that I would change, such as I would remove masks in residence buildings and in meal hall, I would create eating areas per each residence house so that you're not sitting with people from different houses, that way you can feel safe in your residence and maintain distance from people within other residences.

WF: Looking at the other candidates, why should first years vote for you over them? 

I personally love all the other candidates and spent time with a lot of them and I think that we'd all be really good choices for the part. However, I as well as other candidates have had experience with student government and representing people. And I would love to represent students of '24. 

WF: If you were to lose the election, which candidate do you hope would win? 

All three candidates have advantages, specific advantages, so I can't pick one to win. 

WF: Anything else you’d like to say to first-years? 

I'd love to have this chance to represent you guys and I hope in the case that I do get elected, that you feel comfortable talking to me about anything, and I'm doing this for the class of '24.