2023 TRUSU Awards of Excellence Recipients

Each year the Thompson Rivers University Students’ Union gives out awards to students who have demonstrated excellence in addressing the strategic priorities of the Union in their service to the community. Including:

  • Empowering students to participate as engaged citizens
  • Supporting students in achieving their educational or professional aspirations
  • Advocating for students by building political will or advancing a policy in the interests of students
  • Fostering campus life by hosting extracurricular activities that establish social cohesion and develop a sense of belonging

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 TRUSU Awards of Excellence!

Student Empowerment Awards

Perry Erickson

Perry served as the president of the TRUSU Drumming Club over the past year. His efforts provided a safe space and community for Indigenous students to come together through events including drumming sessions, stick games, and regular gatherings.

Shariyer Iqbal Chowdhury

Shariyer identified the need for empowerment among a subset of students from Bangladesh and started the TRUSU Sylheti Club. This is a group of students from the city of Sylhet who have a distinct language and alphabet. His efforts empowered students from that community to come together in events and regular gatherings on campus.

Student Support Awards

Julien Gullo

Julien worked over the past year to support students in Natural Resource Sciences at TRU by hosting a variety of workshops and certifications for students. These include an Electrofishing certification, Canadian Aquatic Bio-monitoring Information Network Field Certification, Swiftwater Rescue Technician Certification, and a Wilderness First Aid Certification. His efforts provided a number of Natural Resource Science students with training and a sense of community that they wouldn’t have been able to access in their regular classes.

Mohammed Arif Qureshi

Mohammed has been awarded a 2023 TRUSU Award of Excellence in student support! Over the past year Mohammed organized Friday prayers for Muslim students at TRU as well as iftar events on campus for Ramadan. His important contributions helped to build community for Muslim students at TRU!

Student Advocate Awards

Eliana Baboiu

Throughout her time at TRU, Eliana has worked to build community and space for 2SLGBTQ+ students! In particular Eliana has led the advocacy efforts around creating a pride space for 2SLGBTQ+ students at TRU.

Campus Life Awards

Jacob Boisclair

Jacob served as the events and fundraising co-lead of the Philosophy, History, and Politics conference at TRU in 2022/2023. His efforts helped to host an annual conference of students in the Philosophy, History and Politics departments at TRU, building community for students within the Faculty of Arts at TRU and other institutions in western Canada.

Gavin Edwards

Gavin was the president of the Gaming Club and the events coordinator of the TRUSU Computer Science Club over the past year. In this role, Gavin organized a wide variety of events targeted at building community for Computer science students at TRU.