Having held 24 extracurricular positions across the university, Leo Yang is ready to step into the role of Queen’s University’s 39th Rector.
Yang, ArtSci ’25, is running to be the third most important University officer, responsible for representing students, bridging communication with senior administrators, and amplifying student voices.
This election season, Yang’s shedding traditional campaign tactics: he doesn’t have campaign pillars, as he believes they’re insincere. Instead, Yang wants to use his campaign to inform students on what’s happening at the university and motivate action outside of student government.
The Rector is a diplomat, a mediator between the student body and University administration, Yang explained. The position unites students and serves as a consultant for senior administrators looking to have student voices at the table.
“When students reach out to me online to start a passion project, I will be the person to help them, to direct them to the right person at the university,” Yang said.
Within his first 100 days in the Office of the Rector, Yang wants to expand on the Student Initiative Fund and help students pursue their “passion projects.” He claims his passion is to help others pursue theirs.
“I want to have a centralized platform for both alumni who can donate the money, and also for students, who have the passion, and want to do their passion project […] and get support from professional alumni,” Yang said.
Projects such as engineering design teams need more funding, Yang claimed. He believes alumni want to help students across faculties explore interesting opportunities but lack the connections with students to do so.
According to Yang, the relationship between alumni, Kingston community members, and students went awry following the March 2020 street party during the COVID-19 lockdown. He wants to build back trust by hosting concerts and festivals during Homecoming, so students don’t flock to Aberdeen St.
“What I have heard from local business leaders is they have no trust in the University, but still love them,” Yang said.
Rebuilding trust between students, student governments, and the University is a priority for Yang, just as it was when he ran for Rector during his first year in Winter 2022.
The same problems he pointed out during his first campaign persist, Yang said.
Over his three years at Queen’s, Yang has served as the Principal’s Intern and an ASUS Student Senator. As a Senator, he’s had the opportunity to question Provost Matthew Evans about the University budget cuts.
“I have been the most active person on the financial deficit issue,” Yang said.
READ MORE: University’s operating budget deficit lowered from $62.8 to $48 million
Yang wants to help students understand why the University is in a precarious financial position. He believes the University and student leaders should be on campus asking students about their concerns. As of right now, Yang claims student leaders are only talking about these issues in a bubble amongst themselves.
“We, as student leaders, can’t keep ourselves in a bubble,” Yang added.
To burst the bubble, Yang wants to create a Rector Instagram profile to give the insider scoop on his meetings with Queen’s senior administrators. A Rector Instagram page has already been in existence for a few years.
He believes current Rector Owen Crawford-Lem hasn’t done a good job of updating students about Board of Trustee meetings, which oversee the University’s financial matters.
To reach new students, Yang wants to partner with a marketing and communications team to centralize Queen’s student resources and opportunities. Students have different needs, Yang said, and to reach them, the information about extracurriculars, student government, and summer research positions needs to be in one place.
Leveraging the connections he’s built through his extracurricular activities, on top of “going out almost every single weekend,” Yang promises to propel the university towards a brighter future.
“I want to help the university go towards a better future, especially during this critical time of the deficit. Together we can find a solution, not division,” Yang said.
Voting for Rector candidates opens Feb. 6 to 7.
Tags
Elections, Rector, student politics
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