Newly elected YUSU officers

YUSU revitalised

Daveds Mootanah, Entertainment Assistant, told the Yorker that the YUSU elections were a good experience as they helped him learn about elections in the University of York. One of his main aims is to push for “more YUSU events all year round”.

Arina Baibarac, newly elected Ordinary Member of the Rules and Revisions Committee said, “Campaigning was the most fun I had in a long time”. She ran on the basis of being a “Politics, Economics and Philosophy student, of having experience in this domain and of being more than happy to learn new things”.

The positions for Union Council Ordinary Member were highly contested, with 6 candidates running for only 3 available positions.

Successful candidate Alice Longhurst thought this made the elections “more exciting”. Alice’s campaign was centered on democracy and a good relationship between the students and YUSU. She acknowledged the importance of having experience as a YUSU committee member, but pointed out that it was also important to have new students who can “offer a fresh perspective.”

Alice raised a pertinent issue, that YUSU is often regarded as a disconnected organization, an entity separate from the student body as a whole. She stressed that it is vital that this view changes, and challenged students “to get involved, whether just through voting in elections, proposing UGM motions, or standing for positions.”

Newly elected Racial Equality Committee Ordinary Member Patrick Man H Kwok promised to “work tirelessly on the students’ behalf to promote Racial Equality Campaigns and to represent different constituencies in the Racial Equality Movement.” He felt honoured to be elected by his peers and looks forward to “helping resolve racial issues” and making things happen on the students’ behalf.

Jason Rose was elected for a whopping four positions in YUSU, making him this year’s Representative to University Library Committee, Representative to University Senate, Ordinary Member of the Rules and Revisions Committee and Ordinary Member of the Communications Committee.

Jason hopes to use his position (or rather positions) to “change things for the better”. He thinks that the Communications Committee need to step up and “fill the important role that it should have” and the rest of the committees need to “function more effectively to help improve students' interactions with democracy at York.”

Ordinary Member of the Union Council and Communications Committee, Luke Malkin said that he looks forward to “understanding YUSU better and making sure it provides the best service it can for its members.” He iterated that “every student is a member of YUSU, and we should all have a say on what we like and what we dislike.”

Luke suggested that the two main problems students have with YUSU is firstly, that students “don’t feel like YUSU are representing the student body and their issues” and secondly, that students are simply unaware that YUSU are in fact representing the student body and their issues. As Ordinary Member of the Union Council and Communications Committee, he hopes he is in the right position to tackle both these issues.

Union Council is a complex fortnightly meeting that discusses and decides on key policies that YUSU act on throughout the term. Ordinary Member Oliver Lester hopes to bring a bit of his previous experience (as he also successfully ran for Derwent Chair) to the table and plans to “defend our colleges as much as possible."

Watch this space for further YUSU updates.

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