Get ready to meet the new 2026-27 executive!
Mount Allison Students elected the next executive office of the Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU) when elections took place from Jan 29-30. The results were Kassandra Vail for President & CEO, Will Stott for Vice President, External Affairs, Elena Valliquette for Vice President, Student Life, and Baraka Hani for Vice President, Academic & University Affairs. They were eager to share their goals and expectations for the 2026-2027 term.
MASU believes in the importance of students’ elections. This is the process when students can elect the candidate who they think best represents their interests, which is a part of MASU’s purpose. The election process starts with the nomination of candidates, who get signatures from students around the campus to show their existing engagement. After candidates are nominated, they are called to a meeting at the MASU’s office where they submit their posters for approval, learn about the fair campaign, and meet other candidates. The campaign begins shortly after where candidates hang posters, meet with students, and gain support from the student community. A big day in the campaigning process is speech day.
For most, this is their last chance to advertise. Voting itself is online. Through email received from MASU, students can rank candidates based on their preference. Each candidate had a profile with a picture and short descriptions of themselves. Throughout Vail’s campaign, she shared her view of next year’s MASU.
Vail’s goal is to strengthen MASU’s structure, make it more transparent, and, most importantly, make it a student’s place of support. Every student pays a yearly fee to the student union, and she said, it is important that the students know where this money is going.
Vail said, “I want students to feel supported by the MASU. That’s what I want. […] I want students to feel the support of the MASU.”
Stott is next year’s VP, External Affairs. He sees the Mt.A community not just as students, but also as a Sackville community. Stott’s goal is to strengthen the students’ advocacy within the town. The big issue, he said, is transportation. Transportation inaccessibility creates issues both for the aviation students, who have to purchase a vehicle to continue their education, and
other students, who can not access healthcare after hours. Stott also sees an issue with
the food security stigma, which he plans to fight and normalize.“I want to get things done, and I think that’s a big part of the campaign,” he said. “I know that there’s a lot of hoops you have to go through sometimes to get things done, but I feel like the least I could do is make sure that the students’ concerns are getting voiced.”