By Lily Hodgson
With the end of the 2025-6 school year rapidly approaching, and the recent election of both a new BU President and a new BUSU Board, change seems to be on everyone’s minds. Over the past four years, I have developed a few small ideas for ways that BU can become a much more welcoming campus.
Better Accessibility: Accessibility on campus is a nightmare. Traversing the crowded hallways and narrow staircases of Clark Hall is bad enough with an able body – imagine trying to get around as a person in a wheelchair, or with another sort of mobility aid! Clearer signage on all campus buildings as to elevator and ramp locations is one very needed change. And speaking of elevators, many of the elevators on campus desperately require repairs or replacement, especially those in vital student areas like the Residences and Clark Hall. With elevators breaking down all the time, campus accessibility becomes non-existent. These concerns all pertain to physical accessibility, but there are plenty of other problems when it comes to visual, auditory, and cognitive barriers on campus as well. As a university, we all need to be more cognizant of accessibility barriers and solutions, and do our best to create a welcoming space for everyone.
Year-Round Pride: If Brandon University wants to show that they are truly committed to 2SLGBTQ+ allyship, I think they should fly the Pride flag year-round. In a world of performative June rainbow-washing, the most supportive thing an institution can do is publicly show their support ALL THE TIME, not just when it’s trendy. Don’t get me wrong – I think the rainbow crosswalk by Harvest Hall is wonderful! But it’s also tucked in behind the main buildings, and only seen by students and staff. There is a constantly-increasing level of global hatefulness towards the queer and trans communities, including right here in Brandon. Adding a year-round Pride flag at the front of campus, where it would be most visible, is a clear statement of support and acceptance.
AI Marketing Ban: Recent promotional social media posts from BU-affiliated accounts, including the Campus Bookstore, have clearly been generated using Artificial Intelligence. Many students have expressed concern and confusion about this; if the University is allowed to use it, why aren’t we? Implementing a campus-wide ban on the use of AI for marketing and communications purposes would serve the double purpose of forcing lazy marketers to use their creative skills (or actually hire students to do it!) and ending up with much better-looking and more effective ads, which would reflect better on Brandon University as a whole. The BU Crest doesn’t look anything like that, guys!
Email Restrictions: One of the most common student complaints is that we get TOO MANY EMAILS. Emails that often have nothing to do with us are sent out constantly, and often repeatedly. Professors emphasize the importance of checking your inbox regularly, but it’s hard to find the important stuff when we’re constantly being flooded with lost and found notifications and the same three reminders. This system definitely needs to be improved to ensure students can easily access the emails that genuinely matter to them. A designated lost and found webpage, for instance, could replace the weekly “we found a set of keys” notices that apply to only one single student each time. In addition, department-specific email lists would ensure that we aren’t constantly being bombarded by information that does not affect us. And limiting the number of times the same email can be sent out would save everyone a lot of annoyance (looking at you, BUSU surveys).