Hanif Brown, the chief returning officer on the St. Thomas University Students’ Union, held his MacBook while standing under the dimmed, red lights at The Cellar Pub. The results for the 2021-22 STUSU team were in and it was time to break the news. As Brown told the crowd to grab a drink, before grabbing his own glass of beer for a sip, he announced the winners.
Tyler MaGee: STUSU president-elect
STUSU’s sexuality and gender diversity representative, Tyler MaGee, won the presidential election with almost 55 per cent of the votes. His opponent, Sydona Chandon, congratulated MaGee with a hug.
While he said the election was stressful and the campaign was challenging, it was a thrilling and rewarding experience.
“I am absolutely ecstatic,” said MaGee.
His first order of business is working with the university on the delivery of next year’s courses to prepare for the start of a new semester.
MaGee thanked those who voted for him along with his friends who motivated him to run. He also thanked Chandon for her support and for being an “amazing” candidate to run against.
“I’m looking forward to starting the job and everything that comes with it.”
Victoria Young: STUSU vice-president student life-elect
Victoria Young, STUSU’s at-large representative, said she felt “great” and “excited” for her new position as VPSL.
“It’s something I’ve wanted for a while,” she said.
Young said she felt she was able to engage well with students across STU during her campaign, even though it was all online. She thanked everyone for voting, along with her friends and Kyle McNally, the current STUSU VPSL.
She said her first order of business is to increase the sense of community around STU after the pandemic or during the continuation of the pandemic.
Alex Nguyen: STUSU vice-president administration-elect
Alex Nguyen, STUSU’s international student representative, was elected as the new VP admin.
While Nguyen said she doesn’t know what her first order of business will be and is more focused on finishing the current year, she said she felt good about the campaign, considering the pandemic and online school.
“It was easy to connect with students,” said Nguyen. “It’s great to know everyone is looking forward to our job.”
Nguyen thanked presidential candidate Sydona Chandon for her continuous support throughout Nguyen’s campaign.
“She’s supported me before I even ran.”
Representative winners
Aside from the executive winners, the representative winners were also announced.
At-large representative is Julia Evans, international student representative is Maria Gracia Hidrobo, grad class president is Tory Desroche and social inclusion representative is Manvi Walter. The three off-campus representatives are Anahi Alvarez, Gregory Robinson and Lindsay Graham.
The elected individuals who also won tonight but will not serve as voting members on next year’s STUSU are: Jessie-Lynn Cross as board of governors representative, Diana Chávez as valedictorian, Connor Campbell as The Aquinian second-year representative and Roxanne Knight as The Aquinian fourth-year representative.
