AS THE UNIVERSITY of Toronto’s founding college, University College offers its students a mix of tradition and innovation, and it is no surprise that its student government, the UC Lit, does the same.
While the University College Literary and Athletic Society, as it is formally known, is proud to be the oldest democratically elected student government in Canada, the students who run it, such as commissioner Sophia Fan and first-year representative Neha Sultana, prevent it from becoming hidebound by engaging the membership in new opportunities.
Sophia Fan
Fan, a fourth-year student studying ecology and evolutionary biology, as well as biodiversity and conservation, is the Lit’s sustainability commissioner—a perfect fit to lead UC students in “making University College more vibrant, green, and environmentally responsible by encouraging more sustainable practices both on council and throughout the UC community.”
This Nanaimo, BC native joined the Lit’s executive in her third year at the suggestion of a friend, and she has been actively changing its culture ever since.
“I wanted to leverage the strength of the Lit to achieve sustainability goals and spread awareness of sustainability beyond its use as a buzzword,” Fan says.
She has taken an intersectional approach, intertwining biodiversity, mutual aid, and justice issues in raising awareness about sustainability across UC.
Credit: Hao Cheng (Lucas) Wang"The advocacy and activism I’ve been involved in during my undergraduate career has had a huge impact on how I view my career as a whole.”
“In the past, the Lit has been more lifestyle-focused,” Fan says. “I want to leverage our own privilege as university leaders and stakeholders and shift the narrative so people realize that sustainability issues are inherently social issues.”
Given the constraints of the pandemic, this year’s efforts have focused largely on educational seminars, often held in collaboration with other campus environmental groups, such as Leap U of T. During the summer, the two groups held sessions about COVID-19 and sustainability and on urban planning and sustainability. There are also seminars planned to discuss the Indigenous perspective on environmental movements and on eco-feminism and labour justice in the textile industry. In addition, Fan authored the Lit’s sustainability policy, and she and her team provided sustainability training to the entire council.
Her team is also involved in organizing climate strikes, such as the one occasioned by youth activist Greta Thunberg’s visit to Canada in 2019, and direct mail campaigns to urge U of T to divest itself of fossil fuel investments.
In addition to her sustainability work with the Lit, Fan is a member of the Lit’s constitutional review committee and was co-chair of the hiring
committee for orientation positions where she “tried to emphasize equity-focused interview questions.” She is also working with UC Principal, Markus Stock, as co-chair of UC’s sustainability committee, a group that is exploring college-wide sustainability initiatives.
Fan is also involved in environmental activism with other organizations, such as Leap U of T and U of T Environmental Action. Her passion for the environment is a longstanding one; Fan has wanted to be a biologist ever since she was a child.
Neha Sultana
“Biodiversity, conservation, ecology, and evolution have always been my calling,” she says. “I grew up with it.”
She has been involved in evolutionary biology research since her first year at U of T and is among the authors of a paper being prepared for the Journal of Experimental Botany. After graduation, she is planning to pursue a master’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of British Columbia, focusing on urban pollinator conservation.
“The advocacy and activism I’ve been involved in during my undergraduate career has had a huge impact on how I view my career as a whole,” Fan says. She is delighted to leave such a legacy for the future UC Lit commissioners.
“A lot of our council members are fourth-year students, so it’s good to get the lower-year students involved now,” she says. “I want to be sure our work doesn’t stop when we graduate.”
There’s no fear of that happening if Neha Sultana remains involved. The first-year social sciences student is the first-year representative to the Lit and is a member of the sustainability, social, and equity and outreach commissions.
“As a first-year student, I am still familiarizing myself with a lot of the Lit’s work and getting to know everyone,” says Sultana, who hails from Toronto. “I will be a lot more involved in the future.”
She has always had an interest in student government and “really regretted that I wasn’t part of it in high school.” Politics and law also interest her and she dreams of attending law school in the future.
When running for her UC Lit position, Sultana made three campaign promises: to amplify, connect, and empower, and she is making good on them.
“I do my best to bring student concerns to council meetings and see if they can translate into events and webinars,” Sultana says. “I reflect the input of others and it’s amazing to be able to do that. I could go on forever about how rewarding an experience it is to be on the Lit council.”
She sees herself as a strong supporting player—“I like to help leaders do their thing”—and contributes to all three of the commissions that are part of her role. She has begun to run the sustainability commission’s social media accounts, something she considers a strength; planned to work on organizing Black History Month graphics for the equity and outreach commission; and has helped the social commission host events such as online trivia and movie nights.
“We don’t overload students, because we don’t want them to feel as if coming to our events is a chore,” Sultana says. “We want them to see these events as a break.”
All of these activities are in addition to her classes and a part-time job with the Daniels Corporation facilitating the Moving Toward Opportunity program for youth.
“I realize that I need to constantly have something to do because it makes me feel energized and productive," Sultana says. “Now, with the Lit, I am always supporting someone. It is so heartwarming and feels so rewarding.”
Actually, it is the UC students who are reaping rewards from the work and dedication these two students and their peers on UC council have shown. They are, indeed, lighting the way for an organization that is already Lit.