BFA students feel program suspension imminent

on the matter. FAS provided a statement discussing the steps taken by the Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment office.

“A communication from Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment was sent to all applicants to the BFA. It provided information on the current process that considers the question of temporarily suspending admissions to the BFA,” Jenn Stephenson, associate dean (academic), said in the statement.

“[The communication] noted that no decision had been made yet and that a decision was expected in February. Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment also offered advising services to applicants.” there—they’re taking this information in to seemingly support what their vision for the process is.”

In 2011, Queen’s suspended BFA program admissions citing concerns around the budget and retiring staff. This time, Dobbie said students along with faculty members are asking for alternatives to suspension, such as re-departmentalizing the Fine Arts under the Department of Art History.

Both Fine Arts DSC co-presidents signed a letter in conjunction with faculty in the Department of Art History urging Crow to not suspend the program and re-departmentalize it under the Department of Art History.

“I think the goal for everybody is for us to be re-departmentalized [...] We haven’t heard anything back from [Crow]. I don’t know where they see [the letter] as part of the process. Where we’re going, feels as though it’s at the whim of [FAS],” Dobbie said.

Norman Vorano, head of the Department of Art History, agreed about the request to re-departmentalize and its backing from faculty and students.

“This joint letter was supported by an overwhelming majority of BFA/AHAC faculty, then endorsed by the DSC and GVCA, and expresses clearly where our respective units are heading,” Vorano told The Journal.

“I have subsequently sent the Dean a comprehensive re-departmentalization proposal, written with the BFA Chair after consultation with BFA faculty, that would allow us to avoid a program suspension.”

Suspending admissions to the BFA program sends a poor message about Queen’s support of the visual arts and arts-driven diversity and equity initiatives, according to Vorano. He said a suspension would mean the greatest university art collection in Canada would have no fine arts students to study it.

“This year, the Koener Artist-in-Residence, a program organized by the BFA faculty and students, was the Sri Lankan-Canadian artist Ranji Perera. Before that, it was the Mi’kmaq artist Ursula Johnson,” Vorano said. “We are currently working with our BFA peers to bring Rosana Paulino, an important Afro-Brazilian artist, to Queen’s as a visiting artist.”

Dobbie said in-progress applications for the BFA and BFA/Con-ed program— numbering around 250 applications—are facing the possibility of a potential suspension. She said the Undergraduate Admission Office has been in contact.

The Journal reached out to the University for an interview with the FAS administration

A key issue in the process, according to Dobbie, has been the feeling of a lack of a “democratic process” and a lack of transparency.

“The core of why we’re all so distraught is because we don’t have access to the information of what’s going on,” she said.

Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) President Yara Hussein sent a statement on behalf of the Society to The Journal It outlined ASUS’s advocacy efforts to ensure transparency from the Dean’s office to students and faculty in the BFA.

“The fine arts play an integral role in [FAS], in the Queen’s Community, and more broadly to our greater society. We are committed to ensuring that the fine arts remain at Queen’s as an academically valued, justly funded, and structurally sought creative space that allows for the prosperity of students and faculty,” Hussein said. journal_news@ams.queensu.ca

The air was electric in Clark Hall Pub on Feb. 1 as former, current, and incoming Engineering Society (EngSoc) executive members and fellow students gathered to watch the in-person announcement of EngSoc elections winners for the first time since 2019.

Three positions were vying for a vote of confidence and two ran contested. The president, vicepresident (student affairs) (VPSA), and vice-president (finance and administration) (VPFA) ran for a vote of confidence.

President-elect Aidan Shimizu, Sci ’23, earned the vote of confidence, while Sophia Thurston, Sci ’25 earned the vote of confidence for VPSA, and Monique Wun, Sci ’25, for the new VPFA role.

“I’m really excited for the year,” Shimizu said in an interview with The Journal.

Wun and Thurston both thanked voters, with Wun adding that she was looking forward to the year ahead.

Jacob Badali, Sci ’25, was the victor in the contested election between him and David Atchison, Sci ’25, for vice-president (operations) (VPOPS). The contested election between Lucas Balog, Sci ’26, and Bruce Cao,