Brag - Spring2023

Campion College
Students Keeping Our
Community Safe
Champions
of Change
BY RAIHA SHAREEF BA LUTHER COLLEGE '23
BY SHAE SACKMAN
While COVID-19’s pandemic declaration has
ended and the world is learning how best to
mitigate and contain the virus moving forward,
the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency’s
(SPSA) Thomas Czinkota and Shae Sackman
continue to provide vital resources for the
province.
Czinkota and Sackman are integral to the
SPSA’s Rapid Test Kit (RTK) initiative, which
focuses on providing Saskatchewan with
free, publicly available rapid test kits to help
keep the public safe. These Campion College
students have maintained the RTK initiative
since the SPSA developed the program in
November of 2021. As of May 2023, the SPSA
has distributed over 16 million free rapid
antigen test kits throughout the province.
Czinkota, Sackman, and the rest of the small,
inter-agency Rapid Test Kit team won the
Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Public
Service in November of 2022. The Premier’s
Award recognizes employees who have made
outstanding on-the-job contributions to the
government and citizens of the province while
exemplifying our core values in action. These
core values include showing integrity, serving
citizens, practicing innovation, and acting as
one team.
In addition to helping to maintain this safety
initiative, both Czinkota and Sackman are
finishing concurrent Honours Philosophy
and Honours Psychology degrees. Sackman’s
background at the university in psychological
research remains a useful lens, with them
stating, “Thinking through how to build and
then maintain a process is a critical skill in
emergency management.” Czinkota agreed,
adding that similarly to research, consistency,
and documentation are important. “Keep
everything. That useless note from last
November, you will probably need on a
Tuesday in June.”
The link between philosophy and public safety
is not immediately apparent. When asked if
studying philosophy is ever important in his
work as a public servant, Czinkota responded,
“It is how I guide the process of thinking. What
I put behind my work at the SPSA passes
through a necessary philosophical filter.”
Czinkota added that being a part of the RTK
initiative means that, “actions and decisions
have an accountability to them that isn’t in
other jobs, and I think that makes it more
fulfilling in some senses even if it is at times
more stressful.”
Sackman also highlighted the accountability
angle of public safety, explaining, “Our Public
Distribution Centres are places like rural
municipality offices, small local gathering
places, libraries, and local Co-ops. We needed
their help, and they stepped up and continued
to show they care about the province. That’s
incredible to experience, and I feel like I
value that more because of my philosophy
background at Campion.”
“We knew
that period
products
should be as
available as
toilet paper
is in public
restrooms,
so we
challenged
our administration
to make an
investment
to reflect the
needs of all
students.”
The University of Regina Champions of
Change Club is a student-led gender equity
group on campus. What started off as a small
group of six students back in 2019, has now
accumulated over 90 members. I started
the group because of my lived experiences
with period shame and a lack of knowledge
of my body. I grew up without proper
sexual and reproductive health education,
leaving me to stigmatize my natural bodily
functions like menstruation. Not only did
many menstruating people feel ashamed,
disgusted, and embarrassed of their bodies,
but they would conform to these stigmas by
hiding their pads and tampons on the way
to the washroom, used euphemisms like
“that time of the month” instead of naming
menstruation, and be surrounded by jokes
about PMS. The sad reality of the period
stigma and period poverty is that it affects
menstruating students’ education. According
to a report by Plan International Canada and
Always, 1 in 7 Canadians struggle to afford
period products. When students do not have
access to period products, they skip class or
use unsanitary solutions like toilet paper. The
U of R Champions of Change Club set out
to educate the public on menstruation and
advocate for more access to pads and tampons
so all menstruators may feel dignified and
empowered. The club has toured elementary
schools and refugee centres teaching young
students across Regina about menstruation
and reproductive health. We have also made
monthly donations of period products and
food to the community fridge, donating over
5,000 period products in total. Passionate
about making systemic change within our
community, the club campaigned for free
dispensers of pads and tampons at the
University of Regina main campus in 2020.
We knew that period products should be as
available as toilet paper in public restrooms, so
we challenged our administration to make an
investment to reflect the needs of all students.
After six months of negotiations, we secured
12 dispensers of free pads and tampons at the
main campus. Just recently, we worked closely
with Campion College to secure an investment
on freely dispensed pads and tampons in their
washrooms as well. Throughout the past four
years of the club, we are honoured to work
with like-minded organizations and create
sustainable change for students. There is still
a long way to go for gender equity, but we
are optimistic that, with the support of our
community, we can guide equitable change.
To learn more or join the club, find us on:
Instagram: @uofrchampionsofchange
Facebook: U of R Champions of Change
e-mail: ccuofr@gmail.com
Website: ccuofr.wixsite.com/
championsofchange
14 Campion College Brag | VOL. THIRTY-FOUR | SPRING 2023
Brag | VOL. THIRTY-FOUR | SPRING 2023 Campion College
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