Sean Van Koughnett has been Associate Vice-President, Students at McMaster University since 2013. In this role, he is accountable for the student experience at McMaster and has oversight for departments such as Athletics & Recreation, Student Success, Student Wellness, Student Accessibility, Indigenous Student Services, Housing and Residence Life, and Student Accessibility.In Sean’s role as AVP, he is on the front-line for disputes between students, students and the university and the university and the neighborhood. It was on this role that he spoke to the club.
Street Parties – In recent years, street parties during Homecoming in the McMaster neighborhood have made significant news in local media:
Sean discussed his role in working with his colleagues in McMaster’s senior administration, student groups and Hamilton Police to help mediate the disputes between affected groups. He said that although the situation was improved this year by the McMaster Student Union bringing lots of Homecoming activities back on campus, there was still lots of work to do as the parties continued.
The second issue that he helped mediate was the large encampment that occupied the centre of McMaster’s campus for several weeks in 2024. He explained that his role was not to take sides but to explain to the various groups what was and wasn’t within his role to deal with. For example, some issues needed to be dealt with by McMaster’s Board of Governors or even the Canadian Government. In the end, the encampment was ended without the police being called in or the university suing its own students as happened at other schools.