While two candidates compete to be the President of the Physical Health Education and Kinesiology Student Association (PHEKSA), they have platforms that share similar themes. Each candidate wants to ensure the faculty stays tight-knit and the faculty’s voice is present in the Queen’s community.

Candidates Quentin Tsang and Colleen Bumstead, both Kin ’19, agree PheKin’s sense of community is the faculty’s guiding strength. 

Bumstead has served two terms as a year representative on PHEKSA and is currently planning the PheKin formal. She told The Journal she’s had her eye on the president position since second year. 

“I’ve talked to presidents as the years have gone by and I’ve gotten an idea of what to expect, but I just thought I would be able to do the role,” she said. 

Her focus is to ensure the faculty keeps its family atmosphere. Bumstead said she’s experienced this feeling during her time in the association. 

“I love my faculty to death and I would do anything for it … having that tight-knit community between each other is really important to me as well and I feel like that’s a very strong thing that needs to stay there,” she said.

If elected, Tsang wants to make sure the concerns of PheKin students are voiced within ASUS and the AMS. He also wants to further integrate the focus of his current role as PHEKSA’s Equity and Wellness Commissioner into the fabric of the faculty. 

Similarly concerned with maintaining this sense of community, candidate Tsang looked to the guidance of his peers.

Tsang wants to connect PheKin students with new opportunities both within the faculty and among the Queen’s community at large. He said there are grants and research positions they may not be aware of. 

“Because [PheKin] is so small, we operate quite autonomously and see ourselves as almost a separate entity from ASUS or even the AMS,” he said. “I really want to bridge the gap and … open us up to new resources that we’re not currently accessing.” 

Tsang currently sits on AMS Assembly and Equity Caucus, but with a seat at the president’s table, he believes he can better advocate for the interests of his faculty. He cited the AMS’ proposal to recognize varsity athletics on student transcripts as one issue PheKin students are passionate about. 

He also wants to introduce a PheKin Support Centre as the first point of contact for struggling students. As it’s a project he’s currently working on, Tsang envisions a place where “students of all years can come and have a nice chat.” 

“If they do have any pressing mental health, or counselling issues, we can connect them to the resource that they need, so [that] we’re proactively supporting our fellow students,” Tsang added. 

Since becoming a sister society with ASUS, opportunities for PheKin students have greatly expanded. As such, Tsang wants to facilitate stronger connections between the faculty and the rest of campus by “bringing the interests of [PheKin] students to the big table, back into conversation.”