AMS Assembly officially approved two teams for AMS executive and two candidates for Undergraduate Trustee Friday evening on Zoom.
Two potential AMS executive teams successfully submitted nomination packages. Due to extenuating circumstances related to COVID-19, the AMS extended the nomination period and reduced the number of student signatures required to obtain a nomination from 380 to 190.
First, Assembly ratified Team TIA, consisting of Presidential candidate Isaac Sahota, ArtSci ’22, Vice-Presidential (Operations) candidate Tabassum Pasha, Comm ’21, and Vice-Presidential (University Affairs) candidate Amelia Cockerham, ArtSci ’22.
When asked what would make their term a success, Sahota spoke to increasing accessibility on campus.
“If I look back and I see the University being accessible to everyone […] that will make me happy,” Sahota said. “And I will think that will be a success.”
READ MORE: AMS executive & Undergraduate Trustee elections both contested
When asked what the team would do to work with the various faculty societies, Sahota asked for clarification, and then spoke to his desire to increase engagement between the AMS and the Residence Society (ResSoc).
“When you say faculty and societies what do you mean—what are these faculty societies, to be precise?” Sahota said.
Team RTZ, consisting of Presidential candidate Zaid Kasim, Sci ’21, Vice-Presidential (Operations) candidate Tiana Wong, ArtSci ’21 and Vice-Presidential (University Affairs) candidate Ryan Sieg, Kin ’21, was also approved.
When asked what would make their term a success, Kasim spoke to the completion of the initiatives addressed in their platform.
“We’ve put close to 5 to 6 months into this platform, so a lot of thought, a lot of effort has gone into this platform,” he said.
“I also say if I could look back and see that my team had a good year and the people that work under me had a good experience, because at the end of the day, I really am a strong believer that student government should be fostering good experiences for the people [who] work there.”
READ MORE: Two candidates compete for ResSoc Vice-President of Judicial Affairs
Before Assembly could move on to the Undergraduate Trustee candidates, Sahota raised his hand to ask Kasim a question.
“You talked about the experience of your employees […] I just wanted to hear something for the students,” he said. “You guys have been holding positions, but what would you do for students?”
Before Kasim could answer, Caroline Hart, secretary of internal affairs, shut down the question.
“We can’t have a back-and-forth right now,” she said. “We can save that for the debate.”
Assembly also voted to approve Jaya Sharma, BHSc ’24, and Seyon Shelvachandren, Nurs ’24, as the two Undergraduate Trustee candidates.
“I’m not afraid of hard work,” Sharma said. “I promise that I will put in as much effort as needed to get the concrete results that students are looking for.”
“I’m hoping to make a lot of difference with this position,” Shelvachandren said. “The self-reported absence is something I would be advocating for.”
The AMS executive candidates will debate on Feb. 3 and the Undergraduate Trustee candidates will debate on Feb. 4. Students will have the chance to vote at the 2021 Winter Referendum on Feb. 9 and 10. The results are expected to roll in on the evening of Feb. 10.
Corrections
The previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the nomination period was extended due to fears of an uncontested election. The deadline was extended due to extenuating circumstances related to COVID-19.
The Journal regrets the error
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