Sy shares that they’re prepared to go against the grain to make student voices heard.
Running unopposed for AMS Vice-President (University Affairs) (VPUA), Edward Sy, HealthSci ’27, hopes to bring their “unconventional” leadership style and equity experience to the AMS executive team.
Sy serves as the current AMS Social Issues Commissioner (Internal), a Residence Don, a Yellow House receptionist and event programmer. In an interview with The Journal, Sy said these roles haven’t just shaped their understanding of student concerns, but also prepared them to be the 2026-27 VPUA.
“I’ve been a very ground-level student-facing,” Sy said. “That’s equipped me with those perspectives of what students are facing [daily].”
According to Sy, key traits that have prepared them for this role is their ability to go “against the grain” and challenge University leaders, but he recognized that he’ll only be able to do this by pursuing his campaign’s three pillars: accountability, community, and efficiency (ACE).
Accountability
Under the accountability pillar, Sy proposes implementing a progress-tracking webpage and an AMS 101 tutorial series to help students navigate the AMS structures, governance, and engagement with services.
“I want to make an environment where students can hold things accountable,” Sy said. “If [the] AMS doesn’t know what’s happening [with students], we can’t hold the university accountable.
They also hope to collect data and converse with students by attending club events and arranging focus groups to ensure a more “holistic approach” and representation, claiming that having full narratives is essential.
“Data itself needs to be better understood and taken more holistically […] especially when you look at equity work or equity issues. When you have purely data, and you see how data marginalizes or minimizes the voices of equity-deserving people […] it becomes hard to act on.”
Student awareness and transparency surrounding Bill 33 and AI in teaching, Sy also shared, was critical to fulfilling his accountability pillar. They plan to use town halls and executive councils to improve transparency around impacts.
Community
Sy suggests developing a centralized “place” or “system” for Queen’s clubs and Kingston businesses to converse, anticipating that this will facilitate easy communication and lead to increased partnerships between Queen’s and local businesses. They also want to explore opportunities for new large-scale programming, floating around the idea of bringing concerts back to Queen’s, though he made no promises.
In addition, they hopes to support efforts to create inclusive campus spaces, such as a daily prayer space for religious students, with the aim of building community.
“Working with the University to provide more framework and support for things like the Food Bank, the Swipe It Forward program, for community housing, as well as inclusive spaces, such as a daily prayer space […] I think those, for lack of better terms [are] checklist items,” Sy said.
Efficiency
Sy desires to implement changes under their efficiency pillar, focusing on improving how students access and navigate AMS services. Drawing on their past roles and consultations, Sy asserted that many students find it difficult to navigate AMS systems or locate basic support services.
“I want to center back on that AMS Resource Hub,” Sy continued, “students aren’t going to look and dive deep into our website to find this one particular thing that suits their interests or needs […]. I think that will just make things a lot easier for the average student to approach the AMS and actually feel like they’re being heard.”
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The voting period for the AMS executive elections will take place on Jan. 28 and Jan. 30, with the AMS Election Team to use the Simply Voting platform for students to cast their ballots.
Tags
AMS elections, AMS VPUA, Elections 2026
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