New Year, New LUSU
The 2020-2021 LUSU Executive and Board of Directors will see mostly new faces, preliminary election results released February 7th show.
Of the Executive, only Rachel Murray, Vice-President Orillia, will be continuing her position.
Fourth-year Political Science student, Sukhraj Grewal will succeed Masoud Manzouri in the role of President, who held the position for one year. Grewal sat on the Board of Directors last year and has spent the past three years working at The Outpost Pub, as both a security guard and supervisor. During his term as President, Grewal plans to advocate for the unique needs of domestic, international, and Indigenous students. He also hopes to create a LUSU common area, where students can interact informally with union representatives, and to optimize the spending of LUSU fees.
Notably, Farhan Yousaf, who held the position of Vice-President Operations and Finance since 2016, did not run for re-election this year. Prabjhot Singh Ahuja, a Mechanical Engineering student who has sat on the Board of Directors for the past two years will assume the position. Ahuja has also served as the Assistant Coordinator of the Multicultural Centre.
In the role of Vice-President Advocacy, Political Science and Pre-Law student Amla Sandur will succeed Josh Pogue, who did not run for re-election. Sandur has previously served as Secretary and President for the Lakehead University Indian Student Association and has worked as a Peer Mentor for Lakehead’s International Office.
Three members of the Thunder Bay Board of Directors are returning to their roles: Lahama Naeem, Yamandeep Malhi, and Annaah Malik. The rest of Thunder Bay’s board will be comprised of first time members Alexandra Grillo, Chin Yau Sheng (Cilvius), Sanjana Sharma, Lisa Chiarielli, and Silas Young. Both Orillia seats will be filled by new members, Brandon Rhéal Amyot and Lubna Yusuf Khanji.
Voter turnout was similar to last year’s election, with 19.9% of the student body showing up the (virtual) polls. The 2019-2020 election saw the biggest jump in recent years, with 19.8% voter turnout, compared to 15.6% the previous year.
Election results are expected to be ratified at the next Board of Directors meeting, set to take place sometime this week.
Preliminary Election Results:
President
Sukhraj Grewal 508 (29.4%)
Masoud Manzouri 395 (22.9%)
Jordan Erickson 348 (20.2%)
Jessica Goettlicher 332 (19.2%)
Lucas Livingstone-Sitch 143 (8.3%)
Abstain 240 (12.2%)
Vice-President Operations and Finance
Prabjhot Singh Ahuja 933 (56.9%)
Robert Strachan 706 (43.1%)
Abstain 327 (16.6%)
Vice-President Advocacy
Amla Sandur 1147 (76.7%)
Phi Yen To 349 (23.3%)
Abstain 470 (23.9%)
Vice-President Orillia
Rachel Murray 534 (64.8%)
Aaron Hiltz 290 (35.2%)
Abstain 1142 (58.1%)
Board of Directors (Restricted to Thunder Bay Campus):
Lahama Naeem 675 (10.3%)
Alexandra Grillo 626 (9.5%)
Chin Yau Sheng (Cilvius) 606 (9.2%)
Yamandeep Malhi 606 (9.2%)
Sanjana Sharma 585 (8.9%)
Lisa Chiarielli 579 (8.8%)
Silas Young 517 (7.9%)
Annaah Malik 405 (6.2%)
Ammar Rizvi 397 (6.0%)
Aman Jaswal 357 (5.4%)
Satya Dileep Penmesta 351 (5.3%)
Ramandeep Garha 339 (5.2%)
Tiffany Helmer 323 (4.9%)
Devansh Shirodkar 207 (3.1%)
Abstain 264 (15.2%)
Orillia Board of Directors (Restricted to Orillia Campus):
Yes (Vote of confidence for Brandon Rhéal Amyot) 151 (48.4%)
Yes (vote of confidence for Lubna Yusuf Khanji) 115 (36.9%)
Abstain 44 (19.0%)