MASU Administrative Council Elections 2020

Get to know your new representatives

The Argosy and CHMA have collaborated on a questionnaire in order to help students get to know the new representatives for the Students’ Administrative Council (2020-21). Out of ten candidates, six were chosen to fill the positions of two Councilors-At-Large, First Year Councilor, as well as International Student, Ethnic Diversity, and Gender and Sexual Diversity representatives. 

         Rohin Minocha-McKenney and Erica Nowlan secured the positions of Councilors-At-Large. Grace McLean became First Year Councilor, Paniz Moradi became the Ethnic Diversity Rep., Suchet Mittal the International Student Rep., and Eli Wood maintained his position as the Gender and Sexual Diversity Representative.

         Candidates were given the questionnaire and emailed their recordings to CHMA as well as The Argosy. Candidates were asked a variety of questions including why they ran for their positions. Some of the candidates said that they want to be a voice for the student body, make the student experience as excellent as it can get, and be able to help their fellow students. “I think it is always important for representation to be there,” said Suchet Mittal. This is a statement shared by both Mittal and Eli Wood in representing the international and LGBTQ+ student communities. They would like to amplify student voices.

         The candidates also discussed what they think their best traits are and how they think these traits will help them in their positions. Candidates responded with answers such as adaptability, approachability, being understanding and empathetic in different situations, and putting the interests of others first. Some of the candidates mentioned being an advocate for the students who want to make a change, “throwing my hat into the ring, so to speak, to have those talks no one wants to have,” said Eli Wood. All candidates shared the notion that their leading qualities will help them to improve student life as well as being a voice for their peers and communities.

The questionnaire also asked about the types of changes they would like to see at Mount Allison. The candidates spoke about changes for more awareness around sexual harassment, so students can understand the different types of sexual harassment and their effects. They also spoke about the desire for divestment and for creating an eco-friendlier campus. The candidates would like making international learning a part of the community by creating more spaces for international students to be able to discuss their home nations and culture while letting other students, both international and Canadian, take part in it. Rohin Minocha-McKenney also mentioned the accessibility of education, stating “I want to see proportional scholarship increases along with tuition. As tuition increases, I want to see scholarship values increase as well, so that our education can become more accessible.” More input about student life was also brought forth as a change students would like to see.

         Candidates were also asked what Mount Allison’s best quality is. They answered with statements such as Mt. A’s openness and acceptance of students from every walk of life, the friendly and chill atmosphere, as well as the willingness to help fellow students. Eli Wood expressed that Mount Allison’s innovation, its constant sense of change, is the university’s best quality. He said, “with every new batch of students, with every new professor, with every call for change the students’ make, Mt. A gets a little more interesting, a little better than it was before.” Mount Allison is not just a university but a community, a sentiment that most students share and a bond that candidates such as Erica Nowlan want to strengthen. She expressed that a crisis (such as the pandemic) is the time individuals need to be bonded together.  

On October 1  and 2 the MASU held elections for the 2020-21 Students’ Administrative Council. According to MASU President, Jonathan Ferguson, the overall voter turnout was up a “whopping 10%” —746 (31.7%) out of 2357 students voted in the election. In his email to the student population, Ferguson wrote that “[t]he importance that your participation has to keep our Union strong cannot be understated. You rock.” 

 The full transcripts for each candidate can be found at chmafm.com. Congratulations to those who won.