The contest for presidency looks to be shaping up into a three-person race between third-year Politics student Patrick Kilduff, fourth-year Anthropology and Archaeology student Beth Harris, and third-year Philosophy student Christian Moorman. The Vice President Community (VPC) will be contested between fourth-year Philosophy and Maths student, Oliver Glick, and second-year Geography student, Immie Terry. Kai O’Doherty, a postgraduate studying Public Policy, will face off against Eve Thomas-Davies, a third-year Politics and Philosophy student, for the role of Vice President Activities and Services (VPAS). A wide field is vying for the position of Vice President Education (VPE), with fourth year Maths student Bobi Archer, fourth-year Social Anthropology student Geir Darge, fourth-year Engineering student Oli Perkins, Scandinavian studies and fourth-year Linguistics student James Puchowski, and fourth-year Neuroscience student Baber Rasheed all throwing their caps in the ring for the role. In the largest sabbatical race we have seen in recent years, a total of eight students are taking part in the contest for Vice President Welfare (VPW). Fourth year Sociology and Psychology student Mel Bridgewood, postgraduate English Literature student Cara Johnson, third-year International Relations student Esther Dominy, fourth-year Medical Biology student Lois King, fourth-year English Literature student Aisha Khanna, and postgraduate Creative Writing student Josh Simpson will all be vying for this position.
These are the candidates for the 2017 Students’ Association sabbatical elections.
Presidential Candidates
Patrick Kilduff is a third year Politics student, member of the Labour Club and the owner of six “astoundingly adorable” cats. Kilduff states that he was motivated to run for the role of President “by seeing so many close friends across Edinburgh let down by a university that could and should do more to help them.”
Beth Harris is a fourth year Anthropology and Archaeology student, who studied abroad in Copenhagen last year. Her campaign slogan is “Make More Noise”, because she wants to “improve communication University-wide.” Harris explained that: “A lot of us love Edinburgh Uni but there are still things that we’d like to change. For me, lying in bed one night, I realised I could start with running for EUSA President.”
Christian Moorman is a third year Philosophy student who plays five-a-side football on the weekends, and is the Publicity Officer for the North American Society (EUNAS) on campus. Moorman states that he is running for president because of “the sorry state of the Student Union”, and that he is a proud Hufflepuff.
Vice President Education
Bobi Archer is a fourth year Mathematics student. Advocating for a ‘work hard, play hard’ lifestyle, she can be found running the University’s Clay Pigeon Shooting Club and acting as School Convener for the School of Mathematics. If elected, she hopes to use her knowledge of academic affairs to implement change which will have a direct impact on students’ education.
Geir Darge, fourth year Anthropology student, enjoys rock climbing and has edited for The Student. He has decided to run for the role to decrease the disparity between the actions of the university and the wishes of students. He wants to “bring students’ desires to the fore and try to tackle issues that the university tends to ignore.”
Oli Perkins hopes to use his experience studying at multiple universities and his education training to improve the quality of teaching and feedback across the university. As well as being a fourth year Civil and Environmental Engineering student, he is a member of the music society and involved in EngPALS.
James K Puchowski, Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics student, has applied for the role after reaching out to politicians concerning Eramus student issues and receiving no response. A Eurovision Song Contest super-fan, he spends his time playing the cornet in the Brass Band and has been President of the Linguistic Society.
Baber Rasheed is a fourth year Neuroscience student who has been class representative 18 times during his time at the University. If elected he wants to ensure that “students enjoy the courses they study and that it inspires them, motivates them, not just coming in to Edinburgh and thinking that I am here for ‘just a degree’.”
Vice President Welfare
Mel Bridgewood is a fourth year Sociology and Psychology student. Excited about the challenges of the role, she wants to “make a real, practical difference to the lives of so many students whose stories are all too similar to my own” as a woman who has struggled with disability and mental health issues. In her spare time she is speaking-out coordinator for the Save the Children committee and a committed yogini.
Esther Dominy, has been a Trustee for the Students’ Association this past year. A past writer for The Student, FreshAir host and a keen member of the women’s recreational football team, she looks forward to “working on issues [she] cares about, whether that’s sitting in a meeting pushing for more counselling funding, or helping run an event around sexual health.”
Cara Johnson is a postgraduate English Literature student who hails from Southern California in the United States. According to Johnson, her campaign slogan “refuse to be limited,” is inspired by the time she spent “two months of traveling on an extreme budget of five euros a day for food, transportation and accommodation.” Johnson says it was the most empowering thing she has ever done.
Aisha Khanna is an English Literature student in her fourth year. Advocating for the multicultural nature of the university and expanding the conversation on diversity, she is excited about running her campaign. In her spare time she enjoys writing and is currently working on a collection of short stories.
Lois King, a Medical Biology student, has spent her four years of university as an active member of the Afro-Caribbean Society, UNICEF on Campus and the Tolkien society. A Ghanaian-born Korean speaker, she decided to run for the position as “having had experience representing students, I would love to take this further, as welfare issues are dear to my heart.”
Josh Simpson, a postgraduate Creative Writing student, has practiced law for 10 years and degrees in Law and Economics. With the skills to “advocate, negotiate and fight for welfare, equality and diversity”, he wishes to take his role as class representative further to serve a greater number of students. He is also a member of the LGBT+ Liberation Group and founding editor of 50GS, the new creative arts journal.
Vice President Activities and Societies
Kai O’Doherty is a postgraduate student studying Public Policy, who grew up in Bermuda. O’Doherty says they are most excited to “enable the great work of societies and services in practical ways, and encourage different people like international students and postgrads to get more involved.”
Eve Thomas-Davies is a third year Politics and Philosophy student who is part of the societies council, the studio opera society, and is the founding president of the acapella society. She says she is “most excited about having the opportunity to make a difference and get more people involved.”
Vice President Community
Immie Terry is a second year Geography student who plays netball and cricket and loves animals. Terry’s motto is “to just do, take risks, to grab whatever life throws at you,” and she is most excited about “meeting new and diverse people that she may not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.”
Oliver Glick is a fourth year Philosophy and Maths student who was a founding member of the Edinburgh Student Housing Coop. He is an origami enthusiast, and reportedly made his girlfriend paper crane earrings for her birthday, because “homemade is heartfelt.”
There are many other positions being voted on besides the sabbatical officers this election season. There are four liberation officer roles up for election, five student group representative positions, an undergraduate and postgraduate representative position for each school, and 10 activites representatives. The liberation groups are the women’s group, black and minority ethnic group, disabled students group, and LGBT+ students group. The student groups electing representatives are the international students’ group, the student parents’ group, student carers’ group, mature students’ group and part-time students’ group. The new activities groups have been separated into the categories of academic societies, advice and community societies, campaigning and awareness societies, employment, transferrable skills and finance societies, faith, belief and spiritual development societies, gaming and role-playing societies, international and multicultural societies, media and broadcasting societies, physical and outdoors societies, political societies, and volunteering societies.
These are the candidates for the 2017 Students’ Association officer elections.
Liberation Group Officers
LGBT+ Group Candidates
Han Deacon: Third year Illustration student, welfare officer for BLOGs, can drive a tractor but not a car.
Ruby Kelman: First year French and Italian student, member of Sexpression, BLOGs, and People and Planet.
Delphi Macpherson: Third year Sociology student, president of People and Planet.
Megan Wallace: Third year English Literature and Spanish student, had an imaginary poodle named Blossom.
BME Group Candidates
Saif Beejay: Third year Geology student, enjoys volunteering, and is a super-recogniser, so he never forgets a face.
Zuohan Ding: Second year Medical student, member of the Malaysian society, and a fan of heavy metal music.
Vijay Jackson: First year studying Economics and Social History and has never missed a student council meeting.
Diva Mukherji: Third year Sociology and Social Anthropology student, helped create the Liberat -Ed scheme.
Disabled Group Candidates
Chloe Marvin: Third year Social Policy and Politics student, member of the University’s yoga and Labour societies.
Women’s Group Candidates
Kathryn Pearson: Third year Social Policy and Politics student, co-coordinator of Sexpression, likes hosting baked potato parties.
Isla Whateley: Third year Social Anthropology student, went to the same high school as Diane from Trainspotting, and yes, she wore the uniform.
Student Group Officers
International Student Candidates
Yohanna Fung
Daniel Gritsevski
Ming Li
Nitirot Phasitthanaphak
Usama Qamar
Student Parents Candidate
Lyndsay Moffat
Student Carers Candidate
Carol Hayward
Mature Students Candidate
Argy Rizos
Part-Time Students Candidate
Thomas Evans
Activities Group Officers
Academic Societies
Naomi Fellows
Advice and Community Societies
Rosie Hawtin
Campaigning and Awareness Societies
Olly Marsters
Molly Newhouse
Employment, Transferrable Skills and Finance Societies
Siti Mokhsein
Faith, Belief and Spiritual Developement Societies
John Nisbet
Gaming and Roleplaying Societies
Paul Sinclair
International and Multicultural Societies
Yaxin Guo
Media and Broadcasting Societies
Polly Smythe
Arran Byers
Political Societies
Kai Alexander Stuart
Volunteering Societies
Lizzie Rhoades