St. Francis Xavier University Students' Union
The StFX Student Union, known as The U, represents the students at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a student-run organization; it represents over 4000 students and it provides many services and activities. The U sits as a voting member on the federal lobbying group CASA and studentsNS (formerly ANSSA). Structure The U is organized as a collegial student government. Each January a president and vice president run separately from each other, and are elected by the student body. The elected officials then choose an executive team which serves as their cabinet for the following year. The new executive team works to structure the following year's budget and determine the organization's direction. The hired executive is then ratified by the Students' Representative Council (who are the elected officials of The U). The executive and chair of council work at the university during the summer to plan for the following year. In September, when the students return, council becomes active and the executives and council meet to discuss the general operations of the union and report/vote/pass various issues affecting student life at X. For the 2023–24 term, the president is Sophia Fabiano and the chair of the Board of Directors and Student Representatives is Brendan Roberts. Past presidents include: 2021–22: Jack Irvin 2019–20: Cecil VanBuskirk Past chairs of council include: 2021-22: Naomi Stobart 2019–20: William Fraser Bloomfield Centre The StFX Students' Union is located in the Bloomfield Centre in Antigonish Nova Scotia. The offices of the president, executives and councillors are located on the fourth floor. Council Chambers can also be found on the same floor; this is home to Council and Senate meetings. History The StFX Student Union was incorporated in 1965 by James Sutton, Paul Rusyniak, Thomas McGowan, Joseph Coffey and Robert Hutton. Since its incorporation, the union has been a major part of the university. The Students' Union initially began to represent the student body as a whole while providing activities and social events on campus as well as societies. The union has since expanded through adding services such as the on-campus bar, the Golden X Inn, and on-campus convenience store, the Kevin’s Corner Food Resource Center, the student's Union marketing studio, student advocates, and DriveU, a safe drive-home service. It has also created off-campus support services such as a housing list, as well as employing staff to help with tenancy concerns. The union was also integrated within the University administration over the years, sitting on all major committees to represent student concerns at all levels within the University. The well known "X-Ring" ceremony, which takes place each year on 3 December, is also organized by the Students' Union. In 2004 the union successfully lobbied the University for lighting to be installed on campus to prevent crime and sexual assault. They also succeeded in increasing library hours. In February 2006, Adam Hinton and Lila Pavey were elected as Students' Union president and vice president. During the 2006–2007 academic year, the union brought in