When students need an advocate on their side, the person they鈥檝e often found there has been Jonathan Hughes.
A third-year law student, the Cole Harbour native has been a staple at AV俱乐部 Student Advocacy Services (DSAS) since his undergrad, when he was pursing his degree in Sociology and Social Anthropology. He has served as summer director twice and still volunteers with the office.
Last week, his commitment to student advocacy and academic justice was recognized at the AV俱乐部 Student Impact Awards with the DSU鈥檚 Level Chan Award.
鈥淚t has been a really great collective effort in my time there,鈥� he says of DSAS.
The defender
Mr. Hughes has done a lot to build relationships with university administration, the Senate Disciplinary Committee, and faculty. As a summer director of DSAS, he met with the discipline committee to discuss how to improve the advocacy services.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a really great experience to rebuild bridges,鈥� says Mr. Hughes.
Mr. Hughes鈥� primary focus has been supporting students who are appealing grades or defending themselves in plagiarism allegations.
鈥淭he majority who come in are distraught and panicked. It鈥檚 nice to be able to help someone go through a stressful situation,鈥� he says.
Mr. Hughes says it鈥檚 rewarding to help students come to a favourable resolution in the advocacy process. One of his favourite cases was a graduate student who was risking academic dismissal due to a second failure. After a couple of months with DSAS, the student appealed the grade and graduated.
鈥淭he experience you get of actually being on your feet and defending students made me realize that I wanted to do some sort of trial advocacy,鈥� says Mr. Hughes, who is pursuing a legal career in criminal defence.
After completing this semester, he will article with a litigation firm in Ottawa before taking his bar exams.
Outside of the DSAS, Mr. Hughes has also served as the chair of the DSU council and played for Dal鈥檚 rugby team.
Max Ma (Katherine Wooler photo)
The pioneer
Like the Level Chan Award, the DSU鈥檚 Lilly Ju Award is something of a 鈥渓ifetime achievement鈥� honour, one that recognized a commitment to student life that spans a student鈥檚 time at AV俱乐部.
It鈥檚 hard to think of a more deserving recipient than Max Ma.
Originally from Vancouver, Mr. Ma is in his final year of a combined honours degree in early modern studies and classics. He attended King鈥檚 for the first two years of his undergrad and represented King鈥檚 students as a councillor on the Board of Governors.
After switching to Dal, he became president of the AV俱乐部 Arts and Social Sciences Society (DASSS) and a DSU councillor, while serving as a student appointee or member on four other committees.
鈥淲hat I value the most are the people I鈥檝e worked with,鈥� he explains. 鈥淵ou realize how much you鈥檝e learned about your own character traits from interacting with them,鈥� adding that he believes that his experience on committees has increased his confidence.
The DASSS Undergraduate Conference has been one of Mr. Ma鈥檚 largest projects. He was a member of the society when the conference was initiated in 2010 and served as vice-president during the event鈥檚 second year.
Most recently, while holding the position of president, he saw the conference take huge strides as it became the first national student-run arts and social sciences conference in Canada and attracted participants from universities across the country.
鈥淚 was there when the child was born and I got to see the child grow up and do great things,鈥� he says, describing his excitement to have been a part of the pioneering event since its beginnings.
The is another project for which Mr. Ma was a principal developer. He was excited about helping students put together 鈥渁 more holistic view of [life] life in post-secondary education.鈥�
Mr. Ma also represents the student voice on three committees that are predominantly comprised of faculty and administrators, including the AV俱乐部 Senate.
He says, 鈥淚t is important to remind people that students are not a lobby group; we are a part of the university.鈥� 聽
Mr. Ma plans to pursue a law degree starting next year.
鈥淚 promised my roommate that I鈥檇 spend more time in school next year,鈥� he says with a laugh.