This story was updated on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.
Five Residence Society (ResSoc) executive candidates took to the floor to debate the best ways to students living in residence.
After a delay from the originally scheduled time of 7 p.m., the debate began at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 9 in Victoria Hall. Candidates debated by position, with each receiving five minutes for an introduction, followed by three prepared questions, and a period for questions from the audience.
The five candidates present at the debate included Presidential hopefuls John Bae, ArtSci ’26, and Amin Meghdadi, HealthSci ’26, Vice-President (Residence Operations) candidates Chloe Wedji, Comm ’27, and Deborah Akinbile, ArtSci ’25, and uncontested Vice-President (Society Operations) candidate Yahya Mohamed, Sci ’26.
Despite initially being deemed unfit to run after the interview portion of the election process, the decision was reversed, allowing Meghdadi to remain in the presidential race after a reconsideration meeting with ResSoc’s Elections Team. The meeting took place the same day as the all candidates debate on Feb. 9.
Vice-President (Residence Operations)
The debate kicked off with Wedji and Akinbile introducing their platforms.
In explaining their plans to ensure inclusive programming within residence, both candidates emphasized the value of outreach to students. Akinbile’s goals involve outreach to first years and ensuring the celebration of marginalized groups, while Wedjis plans to collaborate with external groups and organizations, including the AMS Social Issues Commission to create events that uphold diversity and inclusivity.
When asked by an audience member to describe their vision for the role in one word, Akinbile restated the importance of community, saying residence should be a place of comfort for all students—not just a place to live.
Wedji emphasized the idea of consistency, stating change is only possible with consistency from an executive who makes themselves available.
Vice-President (Society Operations)
For the sole uncontested ResSoc position, Mohamed introduced his three main pillars: persistence, transparency and unity.
When asked about ResSoc policies and bylaws, Mohamed stressed the importance of making bylaws accessible to all students by consistently updating them regularly and immediately after any changes are made. If elected, he aims to clarify role descriptions, particularly for the President, whose responsibilities are outlined in the constitution but not explicitly in ResSoc’s bylaws.
Mohamed was asked by an audience member about the biggest issues he sees in the roles of CFO, who manages the financial operations of the society, Human Resources Officer (HRO), who is responsible for employee recruitment, training and disciplinary policy enforcement, and Programs and Marketing Officer (PMO), who plans residence-wide events and initiatives. The VPSO directly role oversees these three ResSoc roles.
He proposed streamlining the CFO’s responsibilities to focus on financial management rather than item acquisition, strengthening the HRO’s relationship with ResSoc executives and House Presidents, who plan building-wide events, and implementing a summer plan for the PMO role, which would free up time to plan initiatives during the school year.
President
Seeing the most audience engagement, candidates Bae and Meghdadi fielded six questions from the audience about their visions for the role next year. This year is the second year in a row ResSoc has seen a contested election for President.
When candidates were asked what they foresee as the greatest challenge in the role, Bae cited the difficulty of creating a community within the ResSoc team. He explained his plans on establishing initiatives like employee appreciation events while establishing direct between students and House Presidents.
Meghdadi identified team collaboration as a key challenge, aiming to find channels for students to anonymously voice what they want to see from ResSoc.
To improve student engagement, Bae emphasized communication between Residence Dons, who provide safety and for students, and House Presidents to ensure communication of student needs, stating he doesn’t believe in the use of surveys due to low engagement rates.
Meanwhile, Meghdadi explained his goal to increase positions for students and collaboration across campus, including more first-year representative opportunities in clubs.
Following five questions during the Presidential debate, a motion was ed by Chief Electoral Officer Simarjeet Singh, ArtSci ’26, to extend the debate by 10 minutes. After one final question, the debate was cut short due to “other operations,” despite protests to continue from audience and candidates who wanted to ask further questions.
Voting for ResSoc executive elections take place Feb. 10 and 11 over Simply Voting.
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