Erin Sobat, VP University Affairs
In his time as VP UA, Sobat has done excellent work on numerous fronts, both within his own portfolio and external to it. For one thing, he has developed valuable advocacy and research resources such as the Know Your Rights campaign and website, and the SSMU University Affairs website, which contains helpful resources for those interested in effecting institutional change at Mcgill.
Sobat also worked extensively on SSMU’S policy on unpaid internships and oversaw the creation of a report on the needs and experiences of students from foster care. Moreover, he spearheaded important research on open source textbooks which, if implemented, would markedly improve Mcgill’s financial accessibility.
In addition to his work on research and policy development within SSMU, Sobat played an important role in strengthening Mcgill’s sexual violence policy, and in getting it adopted through Senate. He has also made progress toward an intellectual property policy for Mcgill, which should be adopted shortly, and toward a set of guidelines to make medicines developed at Mcgill more commercially accessible, particularly in developing nations.
Sobat has also done crucial work to make Mcgill’s practices regarding medical accommodations more equitable; for example, the Faculty of Management has now centralized its intake of medical documentation, meaning that students aren’t obliged to appeal to individual profs for accommodations.
Most recently, he helped launch an initiative to pressure Mcgill into improving its woefully inadequate mental health services, and spearheaded the campaign which successfully blocked Mcgill’s attempt to increase the Athletics ancillary fee.
Leading up to the revelations of sexual violence on the part of Aird, Sobat worked closely with the Community Disclosure Network in attempting to bring about meaningful accountability. While he could arguably have been more proactive in this work, his contribution was unquestionably valuable. Moreover, in the wake of Aird’s resignation, Sobat has assumed many of the VP External’s key responsibilities, representing SSMU at AVEQ and promoting the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec’s (AVEQ) campaigns.
This being said, Sobat has occasionally been criticised by campus organizers for taking up an inordinate amount of space in media narratives around institutional change at Mcgill. This was particularly true during the fall 2016 semester, when some argued that he took too much credit for the development of the Mcgill sexual violence policy; while Erin was instrumental in improving the policy in cooperation with the administration, last year’s working group and survivors of sexual violence played a crucial role in making the issue a priority for Mcgill. On this issue, and on the issue of Indigenous education, Sobat should have done more to prioritize consultation, and to centre the voices of those directly impacted.
Overall, however, The Daily commends Sobat for his exceptionally dedicated and thorough efforts over the past year. Despite an escalating series of crises at SSMU in recent months, and the administration’s perennial resistance to meaningful progressive change, he has made valuable progress on numerous fronts, and his work will continue to improve the experience of Mcgill students for many years to come.