An Interview with Student Union Executive Vice President Candidate Katelyn Ball

The U’s general election is once again upon us. Polls will open this Thursday, the 29th of January. There are three students running for Executive Vice President this year, one of which is Katelyn Ball, a second-year university student who is doing her first year at StFX in the Applied Forensic Psychology program. The other two Executive Vice President candidates, Robert Fox and Erin MacCallum, did not respond to an interview request. We conducted an interview with her about her campaign:

Interviewer J.T. Campbell: The first question is that, within the campaign statements that were put out on the U’s Instagram, the word ‘advocacy’ was mentioned a lot. For the sake of it not being just a buzzword, what does advocacy mean to you? What is your plan to put student advocacy into practice?

Katelyn Ball: I can definitely acknowledge that advocacy is a very widely used term, especially when you’re running, for me it kind of just means, if you’re saying something, asking for help, or you have an idea, that it should be brought to the people that can do something about it. So, it’s a lot to say that you can bring up an idea or concern online or on the forms that come at the end of courses. But I think it’s important to know that someone’s actually going to take those concerns and take them to people that can do something about it (…) I would like to do something where there is a kind of forum on the StFX website where you can put in feedback for specific things at any time. For example, students that are on the meal plan can submit some sort of feedback. I think it’s important to know where you can put your information and to know that Somone’s going to take it to executive meetings and to the people who organize those things.

JC: So next up is a pretty much a cover letter question, what experiences and skills do you have that will make you good for this position?

KB: I’m currently working as an academic advocate with the union. Students will bring their grade concerns, or if they got in trouble for plagiarism or got a zero on something they shouldn’t have. I help them navigate that process. I’ve also worked in supervisory roles in two of my jobs thus far, I’ve worked customer services, so I have lots of experience dealing with people and supervising different roles. I’m also a part of the Elizabeth Fry society; that’s a big advocacy thing for gender-based violence. I am also writing an article for the [Forensic Psychology student publication] the Annex on gender-based violence.

JC: What sort of policies do you intend to work on if you’re elected?

KB: I think one of the main policies that The U is currently working on, I know they’re working a lot on the AI one. I think that students, in their heads, are like “oh, if I use ChatGPT, I’m getting a zero”. I think it’s important to kind of make sure that policy is really clear, especially for different types of courses. I know some profs are okay with using it to formulate study questions or that type of thing. So that would be one that I would like to look over and kind of clarify and see if there’s anything that needs to be added.

JC: What inspired you to run for the Student Union executive?

KB: Honestly, I didn’t really even know it was an option, but I got hired as the academic advocate by the current VP Executive [Alessandro D’Aquino]. So, we’ve chatted a few times, he’s talked to me about his position and it seems interesting to me. I like to be in the know, and I’m sure there are also a lot of other students that would like to know what’s going on more than they do now. So that’s what inspired me, to make sure that people really know what’s going on and feel like they can bring up concerns.

JC: Why did you choose to come to StFX?

KB: There’s a couple reasons. I’m a transfer student, at the school I was at I started a double major in bio chemistry and psychology. I’m not sure whether it was the degree, the school, or just being at home at Winnipeg that I wanted to change. StFX was not my first idea for that change, I was actually going to join the Navy. It turned to about May or June of 2025, I didn’t hear anything back regarding acceptance or basic training. I didn’t want to go back to CMU, the Navy hasn’t got back to me, I need to do something. I knew that I wanted to still do a science degree but in the Forensic Psychology area. Being May, there wasn’t a lot of applications still open. There were some in the states and some in Ontario. StFX caught my eye because I have a cousin that came here and I noticed they have the Applied Forensic Psych program.

JC: What do you think the biggest problems for students are on campus?

KB: I think one big thing is not knowing where to go to find information. I know that’s one thing I struggle with. There are big communication gaps I think between different forms of leadership, whether it’s the Union, professors, departments. I think that not knowing where to go to find information can be solved if you solve the communication gaps. I think its important to have areas that people can go that are kind of like a hub for information, like specified contact information. One thing that I do really want to do to fix those communication gap is to post scheduled meeting recaps on what the union has worked on this month, just to kind of have people feel like they’re being updated.

JC: Imagine its 1AM on a Friday, you just got out of a bar, you and your buddies want to get a slice of pizza. Where are you going?

KB: Kenny’s, it’s the first pizza place that I went to when I came here for the first time, and the slices of pizza they give you are huge and greasy which is just what you want after the bar.

The following is Katelyn’s campaign statement, visible on the StFX Student Union Instagram page (@theuofficial):

My name is Katelyn Ball, and I am a Bachelor of Science student, majoring in Applied Forensic Psychology with plans to declare honours at the end of the academic year. I am running for Executive Vice President of the Student Union because I strongly believe that all students deserve to feel heard, valued, and included as they shape and enjoy their own unique journeys here at StFX. I currently work with the Student Union as an Academic Advocate, supporting students navigating academic concerns and ensuring their perspectives are taken seriously. As Executive Vice President, I want to help create a Student Union that students feel comfortable coming to; one that is accessible, listens, follows through, and represents the real needs of the student body.

Polls open this Thursday. Make sure to cast your vote!