It’s the last day to vote for the students’ council.
The Griff spoke to candidates who responded to interview requests about their most important campaign promises, why they ran for councillor, and why students should vote for them.
Shanna Villasenor
First-time candidate Shanna Villasenor’s campaign platform consists of inclusivity, accessibility, and affordability.
Villasenor said inclusivity is her most important campaign promise. “I’m running for students’ council because I want to make MacEwan a place where every student feels seen, supported and celebrated,” she said.
Villasenor, a second-year bachelor of science, said she stands apart from other candidates because of her experiences as president of the MacEwan Filipino Barkada club — where Filipino students could embrace their cultural roots and traditions in a welcoming space.
As the club’s president, Villasenor said she has seen how representation and a sense of belonging can impact the student experience and now wants to expand the welcoming community to the general student body.
In terms of accessibility, Villasenor said she wants to ensure all students can access opportunities at the university, not just the ones who already know how to navigate the system.
Last, Villasenor wants to improve transparency and reduce the costs of mandatory non-instructional fees at MacEwan, such as the sports & wellness and registerial service fees.
Vincent Trinh
Vincent Trinh is up for re-election, and while he hopes to build upon what he learned and the work he accomplished as councillor, mental health awareness is his main campaign promise.
A bachelor of science major, Trinh was elected in his first-year at MacEwan — something he didn’t expect, although it became a motivating experience.
Trinh pointed to communication and team-building skills he built. If re-elected, Trinh said he wants to both push himself and SAMU to improve some of its systems.
As councillor, Trinh sat on several committees, such as the Students’ Council Operations Committee, which goes through students’ council meeting minutes to find how things can be changed or improved for council.
Trinh said that as a students’ councillor, he realized some candidates make too many promises.
“Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing,” Trinh said. “But once you’re a part of council, you kind of realize what you can and can’t do, because realistically, you can’t do everything.
However, with the rise in mental health issues, Trinh said he wants to bring awareness towards mental health support for MacEwan students. Students pay high costs for textbooks and tuition, and with midterms and finals looming, Trinh said it is important for students to relax and focus on their mental health.
For Trinh, anyone can be elected to the students’ council, as long as they put in effort and try. He called for students who are interested in extracurricular activities to try, even if they don’t get elected.
“It’s important to try out these things, because you really do get to learn a lot about yourself, and you get to build so [many] good skills and meet so [many] different people. who may be, like minded like you.”
Maade Okai
Fourth-year computer science major Maade Okai has been a councillor for the last two years; she has seen the work council and the executive committee do to improve the lives of students and hopes to be a part of the journey before she graduates.
Okai’s platform consists of affordability, accountability, and advocacy. Okai’s experience includes volunteer work with SAMU’ Promo Squad, the Pantry, and Safe Walk, and she wants to raise awareness of the myriad of programs that SAMU offers. Okai mentioned that oftentimes students are unaware that they pay for SAMU’s programs and events.
If re-elected, Maade said she wants to continue being held accountable to students and she wants students to hold other councillors and executives accountable as well because student hard-earned fees are what makes SAMU’s programs possible.
Conversely, Maade said students should vote for her because she is dedicated to student advocacy, holding the executive committee and SAMU accountable, and addressing affordability.
“Because at the end of the day, I’m also a student, too,” Maade said.
“I understand the struggles that we go through about having to pay off our school fees and having enough money for food or for rent, and all these things. So just trying to make their money stretch as far as they can, I want to be that counselor that will be there to make sure the money is being put to good use.”
Kris Ravelo
Although Kris Ravelo is running in the students’ council election for the first time, they are not a stranger to either MacEwan nor SAMU governance.
Ravelo has been at MacEwan since 2020 and is now in their last year of study after transferring into legal studies and business with a minor in sociology. In the last two years, Ravelo held positions as a student representative for SAMU’s governance committee, along with the governance, reinstatement and investigations committee. On top of that, Ravelo worked with SAMU to promote last year’s students’ council election.
“I think it was a really cool opportunity to get around campus, promote SAMU to maybe people who aren’t as involved or engaged with student life in that way, but also hear a lot of their concerns from the voices who are maybe feeling not as heard,” Ravelo said.
Ravelo’s most important campaign promise consists of seeing strategic action on MacEwan students’ voices as concerns.
“Something I’ve been telling students throughout my campaign profile: I always keep an open contact form, because I know sometimes it can be hard to voice those concerns,” Ravelo said,adding some students may be unaware of the things SAMU does.
With a large student population, MacEwan students have both diverse voices and concerns, said Ravelo. Turning these concerns into strategic action ensures Ravelo can bring an accurate student perspective to council meetings and committees.
While Ravelo has won awards for volunteerism and leadership, they do not want to put themselves in a box. Instead, Ravelo said they want to go into students’ council with an open mind and willingness to learn from others.
“I guess the benefit of having been around MacEwan and in different programs is I get to meet lots of people across various programs and sort of bring a more broadened perspective to student’s council.”
Seun Sadare
Seun Sadare is running for her second term for the student’s council, after she was reinstated over the summer for failing to complete training by the deadline
Sadare wants to make sure all students’ voices are heard, as she is inspired by witnessing the change and impact of the students’ council itself.
During the near removal of reading week, Sadare remembered how everyone was scared and frustrated. The student of international business wants people to remember how everyone worked together and had a chance to speak about it.
“The input of our students is a priority,” she said.
Accountability is the main focus of Sadare’s campaign , both in making sure students’ council does things the right way and councillors making sure others councillors are doing things right, without going off course. This means asking questions at meetings and seeking clarity with decisions. Sadare said the main goal for councillors is to make sure students have a positive experience.
Christian Galera
Christian Galera is seeking re-election. With his background and experience as an auditing committee member, Galera’s campaign is based upon three promises; accountability of the executives, making more study spaces, and student advocacy.
Galera said he would love to continue the work as chair of the audit committee at SAMU, where a large part of his role was to hold the executive committee and various departments accountable, especially when it came to reviewing where student money was going by reviewing budget and expenditure reports.
As Galera noted, student money has to go to something useful for students. “And we cannot just have programs that are not being used, and programs are being inefficient and basically just wasting student money,” Galera said.
Galera emphasized the importance of holding the executive committee accountable again by sourcing the near cancellation of the reading break last year, which he said was a huge concern.
“I do think that if the executives are doing their job properly, then those things wouldn’t even surface from happening, and we need to hold them accountable for their job—that they’re actually doing their job,” Galera said.
Galera said that MacEwan does not have the capacity to keep up with the massive influx of students, and promises more study spaces on campus for students if re-elected.
Student advocacy stems from Galera’s experience in student leadership. Not only has Galera been appointed as a student councillor, he also serves as president of MacEwan’s Model UN student group, and vice president of MacEwan Law Club. With his various experiences, Galera said he has the capability to push through the student voice to ensure it is being heard at the table.
Jean Pierre Moreno
Jean Pierre Moreno has three campaign goals: increase campus events to improve student life, accessibility and affordability, and strengthen communication between students and SAMU governance.
Moreno wants to include more campus-wide events like Fall Fest to bring the MacEwan student life and community closer together. However, Moreno did not provide any concrete details on how he plans to include more campus-wide events.
He also believes that events like MacEwan Farmer’s Market and Breakfast Club help ease student life and improve accessibility and affordability.
Moreno’s goal to improve communication also hinges on his willingness to listen to students and their concerns. Moreno invites MacEwan students to discuss how MacEwan can be improved, for his mission for transparency and honesty and bringing student voices to council. “I want to really connect with you guys, so any issues you guys have, I would want to chat with you guys and bring it up to the council,” he emphasized.
Moreno claims that his knowledge of student groups sets him apart from other candidates. He cites his experience as co-president of the MacEwan Marketing Club as evidence.
Milan Regmi
Milan Regmi is a bachelor of commerce student, whose campaign centres around removing barriers for students.
Barriers, according to Regmi, prevent SAMU from being the effective organization it should be.
“And I want to make sure that when I get to SAMU, when I get elected, that I work to reduce those barriers in our bylaws, in our policies, in our procedures, so that we can be that organization that students expect.”
Regmi said he wants to remove the barriers that prevent financial transparency, saying it’s unfair students don’t have a say where their money goes when they pay $200 of SAMU fees each semester. “I also don’t think it’s fair that in our bylaws, that the executive committee and the and the general manager can move $75,000 from one department to another department without having to go through student council,” Regmi alleged, though he did not provide evidence to support the claim.
Second, Regmi wants to reduce red tape for student groups by advocating a transfer of control of bank accounts from SAMU to student groups. Regmi asserted that student groups are experts on what their students want, and they should be able to decide where to spend their money.
Next, Regmi wants to ensure student groups are able to hold culturally appropriate events. “One concern I’ve been hearing from people is in regards to being required to drink Coca-Cola in the student lounge when they’re having events,” he said. “I think it’s not fair that students have to drink Coca-Cola, especially in the wake of ethical concerns raised by students regarding Coca-Cola’s involvement in illegal Israeli settlements, as well as Coca-Cola being an American product. And with U.S. tariffs being placed on Canada, I think it’s only fair that students should be able to support Canadian brands if they so choose.”
Regmi also wants to lower barriers for representation by creating two new committees: one committee for equity, diversity and inclusion; the second that represents the voices of different faculties. Regmi reasons that, for example, student needs in business faculties may differ from those in nursing. To do so would ensure SAMU can tailor its advocacy to the board of governors based on students in different faculties.
Last, Regmi wants to reduce barriers for effective student advocacy through establishing a logical, transparent process in SAMU’s advocacy work to MacEwan’s board of governors.
Elizabeth Russell
Elizabeth Russell, a fourth-year business student, is running for council for the first time.
The first part of Russell’s campaign promises consists of upholding inclusivity, respect, and integrity, yet did not provide details. Second, Russell wants to advocate for students’ right to express their beliefs without fear of silence, free speech, and freedom of expression. Third, Russell wants to integrate more student resources and support systems for first-year students. Last, Russell wants to strengthen the communication between SAMU and student groups.
While it is Russell’s first time running, she has experience with leadership roles in various student groups. “I’m an executive member of both the MacEwan Commerce Club and the Economics Club, and take a lot of pride in my responsibilities as a leader. I recognize the value that student groups bring to personal growth and academics, as I’ve found a bright sense of community that has created a motivating environment and experience for me at MacEwan.”
Russell acknowledges that most student groups are composed of students with similar backgrounds and interests, yet the students’ council represents the entire student body. As a candidate, Russell said she wants to make an impact on the student body and contribute to something meaningful through SAMU governance.
Earl Collier
Earl Collier joined this election to strengthen the Indigenous voices within the students’ council.
“It’s just that there still needs to be an Indigenous member on the council to ensure that not only everyone else’s stuff gets looked at, what they want to see, what changes they want, but also the Indigenous, as this is Indigenous land and there should be at least one representation for Indigenous people,” Collier said.
Collier noticed the lack of true representation across the board and hopes to address this. Collier says he does not necessarily want to be on council, but was urged to run to represent Indigenous perspectives.
“My promise is to just have a complete representation of my peers, instead of having an incomplete representation of my peers,” Collier said.
“I’ve never taken any political standing before, so I wouldn’t know what to do, it is more of a learn-as-I-go and to put another tool under my belt,” he says.
With the student population growing, Collier hopes that others follow to show that the voice of the student community, especially the Indigenous community, is essential.
“I don’t want to be on the council forever, but I also know that there needs to be the next generation of people coming in the next semester, to represent their peers and everything.”
Tolu Dare
Tolu Dare is an incumbent who hopes to accomplish much. Dare has noticed that student groups have had difficulties operating and hopes to lessen this burden for students.
Dare has taken notes on students’ mental health and has noticed a rise in students becoming more exhausted due to long hours and not being able to maintain a sustainable break period.
“They are working long hours, and they are not getting paid, they’re getting burnt out”.
With Dare noticing these problems early, she says she is able to help students get the change they want to see. Last year she encouraged students to use their voice when reading break could have been removed from the semester.
“That was really one of things that encouraged me to rerun because I was able to go to people, talk about them, encourage them to fill out the referendum and I was able to go to the general meeting where they made the final decision.”
Seth Brennan
Seth Brennan is up for his first election of his final year at MacEwan and says he is running a simple campaign.
“I’m not here to make any disingenuous or overzealous promises that I won’t be able to keep up with,” he says.
Breannan says that if elected, he would bring reasonable change for students to see. Brennan believes in the community of MacEwan, taking part in as many opportunities that he possibly can. This election is more than just a title to Brennan, but a chance to give back to the community that he has been a part of for all his years of study.
“I think the most valuable thing at MacEwan is the community, I think it’s worth more than any art installation, or any lab equipment that the school can buy or afford. I’ve been shown so much love over the years —I’m in the last year of my program — and I’ve met so many wonderful people, doing wonderful things through student groups, like MacEwan Law club, MacEwan United Nations Club. I’m a volunteer for Safe Walk and I’ve met so many great people doing these things that I just want to, y’know, give back.”
Brennan may be a first timer for this election, but knows the ropes for policy and student wants. “I’m also a legal studies and business major here at MacEwan as part of my bachelors of commerce and so through that I’ve been given a little insight into policy and background.”
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