Election Results: 2023 Students’ Union Elections
Calgary – The Students’ Union (SU) is today announcing the results of its general election which will form the 81st Students’ Legislative Council (SLC). Undergraduate students have made their voices heard and have chosen fellow students who will represent them to faculties, the university, and the three orders of government.
With a return to campaigning as usual and in person, candidates were able to speak directly with students through forums, debates, interviews, and one-on-one conversations.
Two candidates with previous SU executive experience, Mickail Hendi and Shaziah Jinnah Morsette, sought the role of President to succeed two-term President Nicole Schmidt. The 81st SU President is Shaziah Jinnah Morsette with 64% of the vote.
For the role of Vice-President Student Life, two candidates were vying for student votes. In the end, Ermia Rezaei-Afsah was elected with 66% of the vote.
In the race for the role of Vice-President External, Mateusz Salmassi defeated one other candidate and earned 53% of student votes.
The remaining two executive roles went to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote with one candidate running for each role. Sandra Amin was elected as Vice-President Academic with 90% of the ‘yes’ vote, while Arlington Antonio Santiago was elected to the role of Vice-President Operations & Finance with 86% of the ‘yes’ vote.
In the race for the Board of Governors student-at-large role, Taimur Akhtar was elected with 51% of votes cast.
In Faculty Representative races, Jessie Dinh was elected as Kinesiology Representative garnering 69% of the vote. Over in the Faculty of Science, Ben Shi, Erica Peng, and Eyerusalem Tadese were elected with 31%, 27%, and 23%, respectively.
Other Faculty Representative races asked students to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for candidates. All candidates running received a majority of ‘yes’ votes in their respective races:
- Faculty of Arts: Muntaha Aamir, Siraaj Shah
- Cumming School of Medicine: Angelica Uy , Chaten Jessel
- Haskayne School of Business: Hari Sing, Md Asif Khan
- Faculty of Law: Safaa Al-Khaz’Aly
- Schulich School of Engineering: Abhari Limbu, Fardeen Islam
- Faculty of Social Work: Jessica Klaassen
- Werklund School of Education: Elsa Stokes
Finally, Senate student-at-large candidates were elected with Aly Samji and Reeana Tazreean garnering a majority of ‘yes’ votes.
Students were also asked, via a plebiscite, about their thoughts on the mandatory Athletics Fee imposed by the university. Students each pay about $115 annually and the fee supports the Dinos Athletics program. The SU decided to ask for student feedback on the fee to inform advocacy efforts towards the university after years of consecutive increases to the fee and a lack of financial transparency on the part of the university.
Students were provided seven options to choose from and could choose any number of options. The top three choices were: Students being able to opt out of the fee, the fee is not good value for money, and the fee should be reduced.
3,865 students voted in the 2023 General Election. The results announced today are provisional and become official on March 17, 2023. Students elected in this general election will take office at the beginning of May 2023.
The SU will hold a by-election in October 2023 to fill the following faculty representative vacancies: Faculty of Arts (2), Schulich School of Engineering (1), Faculty of Nursing (1), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (1).
Inquiries may be directed to:
Mike Brown
Manager, Communications & Government Relations
Michael.brown1@ucalgary.ca
Cell: 403-560-0577