Heather Love

Primary tabs

Slide - 50 years, 50 voices - Heather Love - 00:00 
I became a student at UPEI, in the business program, in the- uh—let's
see—In 1975, then graduated in 1980 and came back to UPEI in 1982, and
stayed until 2012. So I was the General Manager of the UPEI Student Union
for those 30 years while I was here.


Slide - Filling the shoes of Mickey (John Thomas Place) - 00:32 
Well Mickey certainly left a legacy at UPEI when he retired, he came in at
a formative time for the Student Union—when it was really becoming its
own entity—and he had a love for the organization, and a bond with the
groups that he worked with. So, I came in, feeling a little intimidated
that I was just stepping into some fairly big shoes, because not only was
Mickey closely associated with the Student Union, he was a very, very
adamant and faithful panther—He came to all of the- all of the sports
games, Mickey was there—especially basketball; basketball was his
love—so I came in thinking 'I'm not just taking over the job from a
person who did this position, I'm taking it over from an UPEI icon". And
so, he was very kind, he stayed connected to the organization, he provided
mentorship, he volunteered for years with the Student Union, and in no way
did I feel that he was over-reaching, or making suggestions on how he saw
things should be taking place; he was just quietly providing assistance
when I needed it, and encouragement, and having a little fun while he was
being a volunteer.


Slide - The UPEI Student Union - 02:02 
The Student Union ran a building; and a health plan; a radio station; a
newspaper; and a yearbook; and those things were growing and evolving—a
staff of 75...—but one of the important things that I talked about with
the Student Councilors as they became elected and came into the
organization was: They were- they had the opportunity to foster and develop
a very healthy working relation with the University—with the
Province—and in a sense, pay it forward to the students that were coming
in, in the future, because the more they did to develop a healthy
relationship, the better off the students coming in the door after them
were going to be able to accomplish their work, so, it was- it was a time
of growth and development, and certainly a lot of fun, because that was one
of the things I talked about when I did an orientation with the incoming
councilors and executives; I said my promise to them was that we would work
hard and that if we could make as much fun out of that hard work as
possible, because at the end of the year, they were the voice of the
organization, they went out and said 'I really enjoyed this. When I look
back on the year that I was- or the years that I was involved with the
student union, I'm very pleased; it was positive, it was fun, I learned, I
got connections all over campus'—so that voice is going to bring in those
new people.


Slide - Fire at the Barn! - 03:43 
So it was in 1982, and I was doing my first official day on the job in June
and I got a phone call—early morning— and it was of the Student Union
President; "Quick! Come back, come to campus, there's been a fire at the
barn!" So—this was my first day and I worked with students—so I
anticipated this was a little prank and that I'd get to campus, we'd have
coffee and laugh about coming- getting me to campus very early in the
morning. Well I arrived and much to my dismay, it was a charred building
with broken windows, smoke pluming out, surrounded by fire trucks and
police cars, and I was met by the Student Union President saying "What are
we going to do? This is our building, we need a building!" So, when I think
about- at that time, I looked and I said "I think this is going to be a
very interesting career path" because you never know what's gonna happen on
this world and I never anticipated that and- so, we spent the summer—the
President and I—rebuilding the building, so the barn got reinvented;
reopened in September, and I would think that, that stands out to me as
being an introduction that I didn't anticipate, and I certainly learned a
lot in that Summer.


Slide - Goodbye Barn, Hello Murphy Student Centre - 05:15 
Saying goodbye to the old was very challenging for a lot of students, and
the Barn was- was—a little rugged—but well loved, and I think it's very
much like a family college; you feel a sense of connection and relaxation,
and a sense of fun; so I think for a lot of people, they were challenged to
say goodbye. But, as that process took place, and the concept of a new
building evolved, people's focus changed and they realized that—although
the building they had an affection for it—it didn't provide the services,
or the location that students on a modern campus needed, so the new
building was certainly...—It provided the opportunity for the Student
Union to be more integrated to the University, for working in the same
building with Student Services, having the Health Centre in the Student
Center. And so it created a stronger bond to UPEI, for the Student Union
staff and for the Councilors, and for everybody associated with the
organization.


Slide - The Wave, Fox & Crow - 06:40 
And then as we move in to the 2000’s, in the new building it was
interesting that the Panther Lounge; we said goodbye to that in the Barn,
and moved in into the Murphy Student, and the new pub needed a name, so our
President said he would do that—he would take a vote, he would shortlist
names—and after a few months of intense debate, he said: "That was
probably the hardest thing he’s ever done"- he said—people felt so
passionate about the name that he had no idea that even the suggestion that
they should change it was going to create a fury on campus—anyway, they
eventually arrived at "The Wave"- the name of "The Wave", and I felt it
worked well with the concept of the Student Centre because the architects
talked about the Student Center being a ship, and they felt very strongly
that the Student Union should be in front of the building, because the
Student Union was steering the ship of this building; and, if you look at
the front of the Student Centre, it does have a sense of a bow of a ship,
and there were feelings of the ocean, in the Wave pub, with booths that had
a point on- at the end of one area that felt like a dory; there were wave
motions in the colored concrete of the floor; so they were—and the colors
were very earthy, and 'ocean' colors—so, the Wave felt like they probably
had arrived at the right name. So now we move forward and the wave is now
the Fox and Crow, which is really appropriate because not only does UPEI-
is it the home of many foxes, but a number of interesting and possibly
aggressive crows, so people really have an identity to both the Fox and the
Crow at UPEI, so I think they landed at another good name. And tie that
full circle; when the Barn was being re-imagined after the fire in 1982,
the construction company of MacLean Construction were very helpful in
making sure that we stayed on budget, we stayed on schedule and that we got
as much value for our money as we could, as we went through that process
and gave us some really good guidance, and interestingly enough, the Fox
and Crow project or the new refresh of that space—which has turned out
beautifully—was done by MacLean Constructions, so I think that's an
interesting evolution, from 1982 to 2015-16.


Slide - Student Union and the PEI Transit System - 09:46 
A good example of the impact the Student Union has on an individual
student's life is the Student Union partnership in the development and
creation of the transit system IN Charlottetown; and that was a
conversation over a number of years of referendums, were students on board
with being charge a transit fee—It was a really contentious issue because
it's hard to sell something to a population when it doesn't exist, when
you're trying to say "Well this could be a benefit to you"—so, that took
place over a number of years, executives had many conversations, then they
had to—once they embraced that concept—turn around and sell that to the
student councilors, and then the student councilors had to sell that
concept to the student population, so, when you look back at a city transit
system that provides an opportunity for students to not only live within a
comfortable walking distance of the campus, but now they can jump on the
bus and get further afield—maybe have more choices in their
accommodations—they can do things; they can leave campus and go to their
job; they can get to campus at times when maybe would've have- not had the
opportunity to get here to study—so, I think that transit system
evolution; the creation and development that the Student Union did to make
that happen, I think it was a very proud moment for the organization, and I
see that there's a incredible benefit—not only in price, because when the
Student Transit Pass was introduced at UPEI, it was the cheapest transit
pass in North America—so, it was- that was an interesting conversation
when you had it with students, you know, you're getting an incredible deal;
you're creating infrastructure—that's going to be a wonderful legacy for
students in the future—and it's gonna provide you some opportunities that
didn't exist, and I remember when we had a Student Union President from
Labrador and she was talking about arriving in the “Big City of
Charlottetown' and being so excited—and this would've been in the mid 90-
in early 90’s—and she said "I was thrilled to arrive at the capital
city of Prince Edward Island: Charlottetown"- she got to the airport and
then said "I like to get on the bus"—they said—"Well, there is no
bus—What do you mean a capital city can’t not have a transit system”,
and she said "that's when I realized that sometimes you anticipate things-
infrastructure opportunities and supports are gonna be there, and they're
not always there"—So I thought that spoke very clearly to the need; she
just assumed that it was going to be there for her.


Slide - 50 Year Milestone - 12:56 
It was a wonderful opportunity for UPEI to celebrate—50 years is
definitely a very important milestone—and I've watched most of those 50
years as UPEI has grown and developed and matured, and really become a very
impressive campus, and I was very fortunate to be part of an
organization—a national organization and we hosted a conference to those
delegates on tours of UPEI, and they came back to the Student Centre and
said: "This campus is magnificent. It has incredible infrastructure; it has
beautiful landscaping. It is really quite magnificent for the number of-
for the student population that exists at UPEI"—They were incredibly
impressed. So those are eyes that see campuses all across Canada, and they
were surprised, delighted and really impressed with the campus.


Slide - Students Living in Community, A magnificent 50 years - 14:08 
It isn't just putting a book in your hands, giving you an exam and then
giving you a degree as you go out the door, so I saw them understand and
appreciate community and how they were part of that community, and how they
could give back to that community, so I think that UPEI has had that same
evolution; it started from two organizations coming together; it has grown
and developed and matured, and not only is it a significant Charlottetown
and PEI presence, but it has an international presence, so I think that is
a very proud moment for me, to look back and say that I was associated with
this organization and saw it go through all of those wonderful layers and
evolutions, and that it has come to a point—and it's- will continue to
evolve, and improve—but it has certainly been a magnificent 50 years for
UPEI.