More than 250 UBC Okanagan students attended the Student Union Okanagan annual general meeting on Nov. 6, with the hope of passing 14 resolutions.

The resolutions were brought forward by members of the Alliance for Student Empowerment (A4SE). UBCO Graduate student and member of A4SE Erin Delfs said the organization started out of students' frustration with how the student union was operating and the lack of collaboration between the student body. 

"A group of us got together and decided to utilize a channel of democracy provided by the student union to put forth some resolutions at the AGM that we believe would help make life better for students and help harness the collective powers of the student union to make things better in our community and in the world around us," Delfs said. 

Eight of the resolutions were carried forward, some with amendments. 

Those resolutions include:

• Making student union meetings more accessible to students by publicly posting the time and place of the meeting; 
• Ceasing campaigning for student elections on voting days; 
• Allowing students to vote on whether or not a business can lease space in the University Centre building; 
• Make a bylaw from the regulations recommending the union align its finances with the Environmental, Social, and Governance investing criteria;
• Reestablish funding for resource centre volunteers;
• Change the bylaw that theoretically allows the student union to hold onto funds meant for student media outlets;
• Have the student union propose a strategy to the B.C. Federation of Students for Universities to adopt better investing criteria and divest from weapons manufacturers and companies complicit with Israeli occupation and genocide in Palestine
• Have the student union create a committee dedicated to student associations including students leading the different associations.

"I think that a privilege of going to university is getting exposed to so many diverse perspectives and learning how to think critically," Delfs said, adding that she's proud to be involved in the push for change. 

Ultimately, A4SE is pushing for transparency from the student union, increased environmental action, increased input from the student body and more autonomy for graduate students. 

"Heading into the AGM I think a lot of us had been feeling a lot of despair. There's so much happening in the world right now," Delfs said. "However, coming away from the AGM at which we passed so many of those resolutions and students were so involved, there's this growing feeling of hope and power."

Three of the resolutions failed to carry. Discussions on two resolutions involving graduate students have been postponed and one was declared out of order. 

Learn more about the outcome of the AGM and the resolutions that passed on Instagram, .