A Holiday Message from the Students’ Union

News Staff - Sun Dec 23, 2012

The holiday break has finally arrived. I’m sure for many of you, winter vacation couldn’t have come soon enough. I want to congratulate all of our undergraduates on the completion of the semester, and urge everyone to take the next few days to recuperate and reenergize in the company of family and friends.

This holiday is a good time for us to reflect on the University’s promise, Uplifting the Whole People. It is our challenge as your Students’ Union to ensure that post-secondary education is truly accessible for all students. We need to ensure that rural students, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and FNMI (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) students are not prohibited from attending the U of A as many currently are— not only by the cost of tuition but also by the living expenses attributed to attaining a post-secondary education.

The Students’ Union will continue to advocate for students in the New Year on issues including the Fall Reading Week, mandatory non-instructional fee regulation, and the protection of the Lister Hall community. Be sure to check out the Students’ Union website for updates on the construction of the PAW Centre and the SUB renovation as both projects continue to progress.

On behalf of the Students’ Union, I want to wish everyone happy holidays and thank all members of our campus community for their support this past semester. We want to personally thank our undergraduate students for allowing us to serve you this year. I hope that you all have a relaxing break, and will join us refreshed and prepared for a new semester in January.

---

The SU has been doing its part to spread Holiday cheer throughout December. On Friday, December 7, the SU kicked off the holiday season by hosting its 18th annual SU Holiday Party for Kids.

This year over 400 kids from Kindergarten to Grade 6 from St. Benedict Elementary School met Santa and had their first taste of university life. "This event provides inner city elementary school children the chance to be on campus and have a very positive experience to encourage them to attend the university later in life as students,” said Vice President (Student Life) Saadiq Sumar.

“It also provides our students with an opportunity to give back to the community and provides them with a chance to relieve some stress during their study time," Sumar said, adding a big thank you to all the volunteers, along with the SU’s programming and venues staff, who managed to pull off a great day despite a busy finals season.

80 student volunteers came out to the event to help with craft making, cookie decorating, caroling with Santa and a movie screening of Charlie Brown’s Christmas.

For more information, please contact:
Simon Yackulic
External Communications & Media Advisor
University of Alberta Students’ Union
P: 780.492.4236
E: ecma@su.ualberta.ca

---