The ballots are in and the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) has a new team.
The 19.2 per cent of students casting their vote.
Consisting of five executive positions, Dawood Tullah, Law ’26, was elected president; Tanya Joseph, a PhD student in the Faculty of Education, was elected vice-president (community); Surabhi Velagala, a MSc Epidemiology candidate, was elected vice-president (graduate); Oishik Bhattacharya, LLM ’25, was elected vice-president (finance). In a four way contested race for Vice-President (Professional), Megan Roth, MD ’27, won with 53.2 per cent of votes cast in her favour.
Current SGPS President Emils Matiss, a Neuroscience PhD student, was elected to be the next graduate student trustee with a 67.3 per cent vote in favour. He’ll go on to serve a two year term in the position.
In conversation with The Journal, current SGPS President Matiss said he’s deeply honoured the graduate student body has placed its trust in him once again, especially with a record voter turnout.
“I look forward to continuing the work of ensuring that Queen’s future aligns with our shared values and fully recognizes the vital contributions of graduate students to our research excellence,” Matiss said.
Moving past the election, President-elect Tullah would like to meet with the current executive team and understand what work is in progress, and how to advance that along with meeting with the incoming team to discuss how they can effectively transition into their new roles.
“I’m grateful, to be honest, to have earned the hip’s trust. This role is about doing work for students and student life. I feel a strong sense of responsibility, because it’s not necessarily a personal win for a title—it’s taking on a public duty,” Tullah wrote in a statement to The Journal.
In the student fee referendum, SGPS students voted to renew the mandatory $214.69 Athletics and Recreation student fee which will allow them to continue to the ARC’s services, with 71.5 per cent of votes in favour.
The ballot also saw the renewal of six other mandatory fees: the AMS Food Bank, Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre, Queen’s International Student Society Bursary Program, AMS WalkHome, Queen’s Work-Study Program, and the World University Services Canada Student Refugee Program.
CFRC 101.9 FM, Kingston Youth Shelter Project, and The Queen’s Grad Club all got the vote of confidence for an optional student fee.
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