The 2024 Spring Elections are just around the corner, and the candidates running for a position on the Stirling Student Union have been announced.
20 students will be elected, 16 of which will be part-time volunteers and four will be elected as a full-time, paid Sabbatical Officer.
Voting will open at 10am on Tuesday 27 February and closes at 5pm on Thursday 29 February.
The candidates running this year as are follows:
Union President
The Union President leads the organisation and represents student’s interests.
Leen Ali
Leen is the current Union President and is running for a second year. Her manifesto focuses on accessibility, wellbeing, and inclusion.
Sai Rohith Chowdary Virgineni
Sai focuses on culture and diversity in his manifesto, specifically regarding clubs and societies.
Inam Khan
Inam is currently a Programme Representative at the university for his master’s degree. His manifesto pledges to amplify student voices, promote diversity and inclusion, advocate for student welfare, drive sustainable change, and strengthen community engagement.
Sports President
The Sports President works with all teams and athletes, and works to improve sport facilities on campus.
Aidan Fairbairn
Aidan is the current president of the Judo club and is a fourth year studying Sport and Exercise Science at Stirling. He pledges to focus on representation, communication, and diversity and inclusion.
Cameron Gass
Cameron’s manifesto contains three main points. He wants to reshape the Tier 2 club programme to create a more focused approach instead of having teams tick boxes, increase collaboration between clubs and encourage them to work together and pledges to restructure Just Play Sport to increase recruitment for clubs.
Laura Shaw
Laura is part of the swim team at Stirling and has held several roles in her time with them, including president, secretary, and fundraiser. She is also a member of this year’s Sports Executive Committee. Laura focuses on accessibility, collegiality, and engagement in her manifesto. She wants members of the community to feel seen and heard, no matter their ability or financial status.
Vice President Communities
The VP Communities is responsible for societies and also work across housing, sustainability, and volunteering
Justine Pedussel
Justine is the current Student Union Housing Volunteer Officer. Her manifesto focuses on three main points. Justine promises to fight for students’ rights in regard to housing, puts sustainability as her first priority, and pledges to support clubs and societies across the university.
Vice President Education
The VP Education represents the academic interests of students.
Adelayo Adebayo
Adelayo values the importance of making voices heard and representing those who cannot do so for themselves. She wants to make learning more accessible, and strengthen the academic support system to aid students who are under stress.
Aaron Caulfield
Aaron is the chair of the Labour Society and a multi-year incumbent on the Communities Zone Executive Committee. He wishes to improve the access to education, clarify the regulations on determination of AI usage in university work, and pledges to support all degree programmes against funding rollback.
Aliyah Hossanee
Aliyah is a representative of the MENA society. She pledges inclusion, help with education, and health and wellbeing for students.
Nick LaRue
Nick lists accessible education, empowering oppertunities, mental wellbeing, and food and housing as main focuses in his manifesto.
Linz Mincher
Linz pledges to create an optimized timetable system, to make learning and teaching content more engageable, to introduce AI workshops for students and staff, to foster stronger relationships, and create an anonymous ideas and/or complaints box.
Many positions are left empty due to no candidates running for them. These include;
- Alternative Pathways Officer
- Arts Officer
- Care Experienced Students Officer
- Engagement Officer
- Mature Students Officer
- Parents and Carers Officer
- Sports Union Communications Officer
Volunteer Roles
Ben Alker is a first year student running for Co-Curricular Officer, responsible for promoting and developing the academic representative network. His goals include providing oppertunities to develop skills and character of students and creating an open and intergrated student community.
Sneha Mukherjee is running for Health and Wellbeing Officer, responsible for the health and wellbeing of all students.
Toby Wordie is running for Housing Officer, responsible for overseeing students’ issues with public and private housing. Toby seeks to lower rents and create more accessible, high quality, and affordable housing on campus.
Nnamdi Igbokwe is the candidate for International Officer, in charge of identifying and organising campaigns regarding issues affecting international students. Nnamdi wishes to create an inclusive space for international students to feel welcome in.
Kyle Bruce and Bhavi Lilani are both running for Media Officer. The role ensures that media societies work together. Kyle is currently the president of AirTV, and wants to focus on skill development and communication. Bhavi pledges honesty, collaboration, learning, and creativity in her manifesto.
Lauren Bullock is the Sports Union Participation and Engagement Officer candidate. This entails enouraging students to participate in Sports Zone activites.
Shek Farhin Ahmed and Janhavee Belvalkar (Jani) are both running for Sustainability Officer. This role oversees the Union’s environmental campaigns and activities. Shek pledges environmental integrity, the introduction of green workshops, and economic resilience.
Jani is focused on refurbushing the Green and Blue space, eco-anxiety escape pods, reducing the sale of disposable cups, sustainability olympics, and ‘Too Good to Go’ bags being introduced on campus.
You can read the full list of candidates, and their manifestos, here.
Featured Image Credit: Stirling Student Union
Fourth year student journalist studying Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Journalism Studies.
Words at Brig, The Daily Evergreen, Alloa Advertiser, Discovery Music Scotland, and The Mourning Paper.
