This story has been modified to reflect changes in graph seven, regarding Unite Ryerson’s comment.
Change has rolled across the campus from the corner of Dundas and Mutual streets to College Park.
All executive candidates on the Transform RU slate won their bids in the 2015 student elections, starting with the Andrea Bartlett, who will become president of the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU).
“At the end of the day, the students are our boss,” says Bartlett of her team’s election win. “We’re accountable to them.”
She says Transform RU’s campaign was based on transparency and communication and she’ll continue on that path.
At the same time, the student electorate swept aside candidates on the Unite Ryerson platform for the first time in nine years.
Andrea Bartlett is the RSU’s new president. (Eman Ali/Ryersonian Staff)
The winning RSU executive candidates are:
- Andrea Bartlett, president
- Cormac McGee, vice-president education
- Rabia Idrees, vice-president equity
- Obaid Ullah, vice-president operations
- Harman Singh, vice-president student life
None of Unite’s candidates have provided comment on the election results.
Bartlett and her running mates took the lead from the first ballot count from Kerr Hall. By the end, she had stretched her win to 2,412 votes, 1,193 more than Diverlus. Throughout the evening not a single building poll tipped in her opposition’s favour.
McGee, Transform RU’s candidate for vice-president education, beat out his Unite counterpart, Mohamed, by more than 1,000 votes.
Andrea Bartlett, along with other members of the Transform RU team, eagerly watching the election results at the Ram in the Rye Feb. 12. (Beza Getachew/Ryersonian Staff)
Bartlett previously told The Ryersonian that her top three goals as president are to ensure communication and financial transparency, to lobby to decrease financial document fees and increase members in financial aid offices.
She also says she wants to build a “mutually beneficial relationship” with the Canadian Federation of Students, the national student lobby organization to which the student union pays more than $300,000 in fees.
I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished on our Ryerson campus.No matter the outcome,I hope students remember we are a #ramily #RSUElections
— Andrea Bartlett (@akbartlett) February 12, 2015
The other major story was the voter turnout, especially for the president’s position. More than 3,623 students voted, a 75 per cent improvement from last year. The total also is more than that of the election of 2009, a year when three slates contested it.
Dozens of sometimes-rowdy Transform supporters watched the tallies on a live screen at the Ram in the Rye as the votes came in. By 1 a.m., they had broken out in chants:
“This year we’re going to change things!”
On Twitter, #RSUElection trended in Toronto at about 11 p.m. and was later one of the top five national hashtags as students from across the campus tuned into Twitter to chat about the results and turnout.
The unofficial election result numbers, according to the Ryerson Students’ Union Facebook page:
RSU EXECUTIVES
President
Andrea Bartlet 2414
Pascale Diverlus 1209
Vice-President Education
Cormac McGee 2272
Zidan Mohamed 1231
Vice-President Equity
Rabia Idrees 2363
Anuja Jeeva 1239
Vice-President Operations
Joshua D’Cruz 280
Andrew Silverthorn 1134
Obaid Ullah 2127
Vice-President Student Life and Events
Agang Moeng 1308
Harman Singh 2289
FACULTY DIRECTORS
Arts
Angelina Balasadas 167
Gizelle Lao 196
Bianca Marryshow 178
Hannah Van Dyk 196
Alexander Waddling 186
Leizl Yance 152
Business
Rana Abdalla 321
Youssef Ali 313
Celina Hernandez 683
Nav Marwah 724
Husain Mulla 122
Noah Parker 729
Vilirsa Rajadurai 303
Samra Ramzan 695
Halley Requena-Silva 235
Janakan Senthikumar 195
Azeem Shah 135
Communications and Design
Jesica Albotra 122
Shay Alford 457
Olivia Amu 128
Tavia Bakowski 463
Komal Bhatti 40
Lucas Bozzo 78
Mira El-Assi 129
Mady Krapez-Fewster 441
Tarisai Ngangura 118
Tyler Webb 467
Community Services
Zahra Islam 192
Kinza Malik 161
Stacey Manhue 181
Cassandra Myers 175
Kayla Reid 190
Engineering and Architecture
Dave Alcivar 372
Sabah Choudhry 241
Alison Doucette 68
Islam Elkadi 185
Kamal Kamran 144
Amar Latchman 356
Iman Malhi 47
Mariam Nouser 452
Lillie Qiu 66
Urooj Siddiqui 486
Science
Zuhra Omary 92
Nermin Piragic 71
Matthew Tesfaldet 122
Ana Sofia Vargas Garza 123
GRADUATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Chairperson
Uthman Said
Deputy Chairperson Education
Pablo Godoy
Deputy Chairperson Finance
(Not Contested)
Deputy Chairperson Student Life and Events
Sandra Herrera
Related Posts:
- Transform RU runs against Unite Ryerson in RSU elections
- Getting to know the 2015 RSU candidates
- Unite Ryerson and Transform RU face-off in debate
- Unite Ryerson candidate applauds killing of two NYC police officers
- Transform RU will consider ditching CFS if elected
- RSU candidate talks about being a victim of Islamophobia
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Nicole was the managing editor for print. She graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2015, with a focus on newspaper reporting and investigative techniques, and a specialization in philosophy.
