Earning Their Place in History

ASUS celebrates 132 years with first all-women executive, council

In 1890, the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) was established as the all-male Arts Society and took the name ASUS after merging with the all-female Levana Society in 1967. The fundamental purpose of the Society is to enhance the educational experience of Arts and Science students in and out of the classroom and to represent and advocate on behalf of the student body to the faculty and administration.

It currently represents more than 12,000 undergraduate students and more than 1,000 volunteers.
Now, for the first time in its 132-year history ASUS, the largest faculty society at Queen’s University, is being governed by a seven-person executive and council who all identify as women, something President Yara Hussein couldn’t be prouder of.

“It’s promising to see how this organization started out as very male-dominated but is now a more diverse and welcoming space than in past history,” Hussein says. “It’s important for us to represent the diversity of the entire student body through the executive, the council, and our volunteers. They are the heart of ASUS and it’s exciting for me to see the places ASUS will take them.”

She is joined on the executive by Emma Farrell, Vice-President (Society Affairs) and Aloka Wijesundara, Vice-President (Operations). Sitting on Council are Alicia Parker (Academics), Elisabeth McHarg (Community Outreach), Layla Haddad (Equity), Caitlin Sankaran-Wee (Governance), Kristin Papaconstantinou (Human Resources), Monica Szalajko (Marketing and Communications), and Kana Ogawa (Services).

Hussein says ASUS is an important service on campus as it supports students right from the orientation experience to professional development which links graduation students to networking opportunities. 
“From first to fourth year, you have a place with ASUS and a wide range of opportunities to get involved,” she explains. “To help increase our visibility we are focused on financial transparency. Many students don’t realize they pay a $33 fee for ASUS, a $3 fee for the Arts and Science Research Fund (ASURF), along with the Good Times Diner which provides a wide variety of freshly prepared meals to any individuals in the Queen's and Kingston community experiencing any food insecurity.

“We also have a wide range of financial aid and assistance to provide but a lot of students don’t realize those opportunities exist. This is something they can utilize. ASUS is also a way to get involved with the Faculty of Arts and Science community.”

When asked why she wanted to run for president this year, Hussein, who is studying biochemistry, says ASUS was her first home on campus and she acted as a first-year representative.

“I was fascinated with the power of the student voice. Students can have a huge impact on the student experience. Last year I sat on council and held my own commission and worked with an amazing group of volunteers. I got a better sense of what it would mean to lead a large team and continue my student advocacy. I really wanted to empower the student voice and spearhead advocacy and seeing tangible change.”

As for the future, Hussein has several things she would like to see come to fruition. A focus on the strengthening the foundational identify of the ArtSci community as well as focusing on the expansion of the undergraduate research experience through ASURF funding.

“I’d love to see more engagement with that both on a faculty level but also on the student level. I’d like to see it expand on a financial scale and seeing how student research opportunities can be made accessible to students. I want the future of ASUS to encompass every single FAS student.”

To learn more about ASUS, visit the website.