The Off-Campus Representatives (O.C. Reps) at St. Thomas University are breaking out this year with a whole new attitude.
Ayla Poitras, Megan Thomson, Jeremy Keats, and Philippe Ferland are this year’s O.C. Reps and the Campus Celebrities of this week. The group is committed to bringing the on and off-campus communities together, which is something that the O.C. committee has not been able to do in the past.
Their fresh approach, and new ideas are quickly turning these representatives into celebrities around the STU campus.
“Now, it’s like, Ayla, Megan, Jeremy, and Philippe are throwing a party, not the ‘O.C. Reps,” said Poitras. “I know that, as O.C. representative, it is harder to get off-campus students involved. Unlike those in residence, they tend to just go to class, and then go home.”
From left: Ayla Poitras, Megan Thomson, Philippe Ferland and Jeremy Keats.
“One of the most important jobs of the committee is to plan events and integrate the off-campus community,” said Thomson.
60 per cent of STU population is made up of off-campus students. Despite this fact, the committee feels that the off-campus students have traditionally been excluded from the on-campus sense of community at the university.
“All of our events, excluding O.C. [sticker tag], are open to students who are in-residence,” she said Poitras
“It’s all about finding ways to merge that off-campus community with the on-campus,” added Thomson.
The committee has hosted a few events this year, including two coffee houses.
“When me made the Facebook event page, former representatives told us we shouldn’t get our hopes up,” said Poitras.
However, much to their surprise and delight, both events were received with overwhelming numbers.
“These were the largest STU coffee houses in history,” said Thomson.
The committee says the most important part of what they do is bringing together students, and making sure that no one feels isolated from the community.
“I think we have achieved that goal, for me I went from knowing no one, to having people coming up to me saying ‘Hey, Ayla, great coffee house, when are we having another one?’,” said Poitras.
Another new activity, “Find Philippe Friday” was introduced to the campus earlier this year.
The goal of the project was introducing Philippe Ferland to the committee. The students were supposed to find Philippe in a Waldo outfit and take a selfie with him.
The O.C. reps deem the project a hit.
“We think everyone on the STU Student Union deserve to be campus celebrities,” said Thomson.
“We want to work hard, to give back to campus, and make STU the best place we possibly can.”