The candidates for the 2017 Student Elections were announced by the Union last night and Radar got the chance to meet the new candidates.
The Union was a flurry of excitement and nerves last night as nominees began preparation for running as candidates in RGU Union’s Student Elections.
The candidate list was officially announced last night by the Union:
Running for the role of President of Communications and Democracy are;
Lodovica Avidano, the current Vice President for Entertainment and Events, who described elections as the most exciting time at RGU: “You make so many friends, the atmosphere is great, it is just so much fun and you get to talk to a lot of people.”
Michael Ife said that he feels positive about the election: “It’s a very good challenge and opportunity to run for a sabbatical and be a voice for the students.”
4th Year Ellen Laird said that running for President has made her feel nervous and excited: “It’s a whirlwind of emotions, how else are you going to feel?” and then added: “Confident should be in there!”
Craig Robertson explained why he is running: “I hope to win so I can do the best for my fellow students and I can hopefully give something back.”
The last candidate for this role, Madeline Travis feels “both excited but extremely nervous” about the oncoming elections and went on to say: “it’s intimidating because it’s on a large scale.”
Hoping to become your President for Education and Welfare are the following candidates;
LGBT+ Champion Christopher Cowie who said: “I’m excited, it’s taken a bit of convincing myself but I’d like to use all of my roles and experience to benefit other students and the university”.
Post-graduate, Peace Echeonwu, is running for the role and said: “It feels good, I was a councillor back home in Nigeria and it feels good to lead the people.”
Kerry Harrison is re-running for the role and explained: “It’s harder running for the same position again because it’s already your role. It would be like re-applying to your job every year.”
Marty McGouran, the current Vice President of Community, is on Erasmus at the moment.
Finally, 4th year, Eilidh Paterson is running for the position of President of Sport and Physical Activity and she said: “I’m very excited! I’m hugely passionate about sport and this would be my dream job.”
The candidates for Vice Presidents (VP) are;
Martin Thomson who is running for Entertainment and Events and is currently on his work placement in Nantucket in America.
Gonzalo Lara De Leyva running for Environment and Ethics who was not at the meeting last night due to other commitments.
Martha Gilmore is running for Vice President for Societies and she explained she is excited, a little nervous and went on to say: “It would be a great role, I feel like I can do a lot with it given my previous experience with societies.”
Gavin Rittoo for Vice President of Sports who is also currently on his work placement in Edinburgh.
Finally, running for VP for Wellbeing and Equal opportunities are;
The Disability Champion, Gena Jones-Purdie said: “I’m really passionate about equality and would love to continue some things I’ve started as the student Disability Champion.”
The second candidate for the VP role is 1st year Jennifer Ritchie who explained that although she is a little apprehensive she is also excited for the oncoming election: “this will be the best time to run for me and I have a good idea of what I want to achieve.”
The candidates were busy filming their manifesto videos and planning their campaigns. It is a very exciting time for students across campus as they can decide on who will become their future student leaders.
There will be a Question Time on Monday the 6th March at 12 pm in the Amphitheatre of the Sir Ian Wood Building. Voting opens on Tuesday the 7th of March ending on Friday the 10th of March at 2 pm.
Have your say and vote for who you want to represent you in the 2017/18 academic year. The winners will be announced at 3 pm on Friday the 10th of March.
Find out more information on the Union website https://www.rguunion.co.uk/elections/