Solidarity & Advocacy News
Middle & High School Students No Longer Permitted on Kelowna Campus
Finally, after multiple years of frustration, complaints, and public discourse, a letter was sent out to KSS parents on March 13 stating that “beginning March 30, no middle and high school students will be permitted inside any OC building on our Kelowna campus during the school day unless they are accompanied by an adult, or enrolled in a dual-enrolment program such as dual credit, sampler and gateway programs.”
Government Transit Advocacy Letter
The Okanagan College Students’ Union represents nearly 5000 students across the Okanagan Valley. On behalf of the students we represent, we are writing to express our strong support for the BC Federation of Labour’s Connecting BC Transit campaign and to urge the provincial government to implement its proposed plan to significantly expand and strengthen public transit across British Columbia. For students in the Okanagan, reliable, affordable, and well-connected, inter-community transit is not a convenience, but a necessity.
OCSU Letter to Kelowna Senior Secondary
We are writing to formally raise concerns about the ongoing presence and behaviour of Kelowna Secondary School (KSS) students on Okanagan College (OC) campuses. While we recognize that Okanagan College is public property and that many KSS students conduct themselves appropriately, the volume and severity of incidents involving KSS students has reached a point where it is significantly impacting the safety, learning environment, and overall campus experience for OC students.This issue has become the number one complaint we hear from our students on the Kelowna campus, and so we feel it necessary to bring this forward to you all.
Okanagan College Students’ Union Written Submission for Post-Secondary Review
Our students’ union strongly endorses the core principles outlined in the BC Federation of Students’ submission and offers the following local evidence and recommendations to support and expand on those themes.
OCSU Annual Presentation to the Okanagan College Leadership Council
Annabelle Lee and Anna Borysova are International Development students and are presenting to the Okanagan College Leadership Council on behalf of the Okanagan College Students’ Union, of which they are elected representatives. They are presenting student-identified priorities and concerns regarding academic continuity, communication, campus experience, and student support across all Okanagan College campuses. This brief reflects direct feedback from students enrolled in a broad range of programs and campus locations.
Presentation to the Select Standing Committee on Finance
OCSU is presenting to the Select Standing Committee on Finance with one clear recommendation: restoring provincial funding to BC's public post-secondary institutions to no less than 75% of institutional operating budgets. We are focusing on this sizable gap in our provincial social net because a sufficiently funded post secondary sector benefits all British Columbians, and we believe it is the key to tackling many of the other social and economic struggles our peers and community members are voicing to you.
The Okanagan College Students’ Union Stands in Solidarity with Trans Athletes: A Call for Accountability and Inclusivity in PACWEST
The Okanagan College Students’ Union is proud to reaffirm its unwavering support for trans athletes and the broader 2SLGBTQIA+ community in light of recent developments in the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST).
2025 Leadership Council Presentation by Okanagan College Students’ Union
OCSU representatives spoke with Okanagan College Leadership on February 6, 2025 to discuss a variety of student concerns.
OCSU X OC Leadership AMA
Late last semester your elected Student Representatives engaged in an Ask Me Anything Meeting with Okanagan College leadership representatives, President Dr Neil Fassina, Vice President of Academics and Provost, Dr Samantha Leci, and Vice President of Enrolment, Jennifer Goodwin. This meeting was planned with the goal of connecting, answering student questions and creating a more transparent relationship between Okanagan College Administration and The Okanagan College Students’ Union. Below are the questions your representatives asked and a summary of the answers that were given by the administration. Please note this is not a direct transcript of the meeting but a summary of the conversation that took place.
OCSU Statement of Settler Colonialism in Palestine
30 days cannot begin to encapsulate the profound agony endured during 75+ years of occupation. This month marks a devastating milestone, with over 10,000 lives lost in Gaza, and thousands more missing, unmarked, and unidentifiable.
The OCSU has always been a champion for student voices, but our silence has been a deafening contradiction of our principles. We would like to make it clear that genocide should never be a subject of neutrality.
OCSU Letter of Support for First-Year BSN Students
The Okanagan College Students’ Union is writing to Minister Selina Robinson, the Okanagan College Board of Governors, Okanagan College Education Council, Carly Hall, Dean of Health and Social Development, the University of British Columbia-Okanagan Senate, the Kelowna MLA’s, and our OC Community in solidarity and support of our Bachelor of Nursing students and faculty.
OCSU Letter of Support for Emily Carr University Walkout
November 8th Message to OCSU Members
Hello members! We wanted to give a big thank you to everyone who participated in our Student Solidarity activities this past week. With your help, we gathered just under 800 student signatures calling on the College to do better when it comes to students. Your Students’ Union coordinated between Kelowna, Penticton, and Salmon Arm campuses to ask our institution to put students first and asked you to lend your support.
Note of Acknowledgement, Appreciation, and Support from OC Counselling
The Counselling Services department would like to formally acknowledge the ongoing challenges that OCSU continues to face as well as the hard work and advocacy you tirelessly do on behalf of your members. On the Kelowna campus, members of our department had the privilege of attending the November 2nd Student Solidarity Walk Out, to support and stand with OCSU in challenging OC leadership to address the important concerns that you raised. Though our department has a specific campus role in supporting students, our sense is that you have identified both pragmatic and systemic concerns which negatively impact students’ personal and academic success and wellbeing.
Letter of Support from OC Faculty Association
The Okanagan College Faculty Association supports our students in every way that we can, and even though faculty roles are diverse, we all know that our students are the heart of Okanagan College. Because of this, faculty hone and develop their teaching and support skills with student needs in mind. Today, the students protest, and their actions and concerns are front and center as they speak their needs. Faculty are here in their support, as always.
OC Leadership Council Speech
We are here today on behalf of our members from the Kelowna, Penticton and Salmon Arm campuses to present to you the needs and concerns of our peers, your students at OC. As elected representatives, we feel that our members are the heartbeat of our institution and our goal today is to shed light on the topics that we know can make direct changes and have positive impacts for our peers. Without students there is no OC, and if we can all agree on that, then we should be able to work together to address the needs of students.
Student Letter to Okanagan College Leadership
he OCSU is asking its members to join us in a Student Solidarity Walk Out on November 2nd at 10:30am because Okanagan College is leaving students out of conversations and decisions; because Okanagan College has abandoned its historic student-centered values; and because Okanagan College has had a steep decline of quality, and student centered, delivery of services.