Campaign season has closed for Aberdeen University Students’ Union (AUSA) sabbatical officer candidates, with the election results announced today in Union Brew.
The results are as follows:
Student President: Kaitlin Agius
Vice President for Activities: Hannah Cowie
Vice President for Communities: Mitalee Suchak
Vice President for Education: Courage Mene
Vice President for Welfare: Olivia Demonstranti
The roles entail a paid position for the 2026/27 academic year, helping run AUSA, make decisions for the student body, and representing the Students’ Union.
President-elect Kaitlin Agius has been heavily involved with student representation since her first year, and currently sits as chair of student council for the second term in a row. Her highly anticipated campaign prioritised access to study spaces, bridging the gap between the university and its international students, and transparency regarding changes at the University and Students’ Union. Speaking to The Gaudie, the future AUSA leader shared:
“Thank you so much to everyone who voted. This is a moment I’ve been dreaming of for the last four years, and I’m so excited to get into the role. Huge thank you to my campaign team who supported me and got so involved in the elections.”
The new elected roles are filled solely by women, creating an all-female sabbatical team. Agius shared her thoughts on these wins:
“I’m so excited for an all-women sabbatical team. This is the first time in my university career that this has happened, and I am looking forward to seeing what we achieve.”
Olivia Demonstranti, the newly elected Vice-President (VP) for Welfare, ran a campaign in a shared slate with Agius and Hannah Cowie, the previous and now returning VP for Activities. Olivia focused on accessibility to counselling services, improvement of student housing conditions, assistance for international students and continuity with support services at Foresterhill. She spoke with The Gaudie after results were shared, saying:
“I am so incredibly grateful and excited to begin my role at the Student Union. I could not have done it without the support of my campaign team, and Hannah and Kaitlin’s unwavering friendship and support. Thank you so much to everyone who voted, I hope I can make you all proud this coming year and I cannot wait to give back to this community that I love so much.” :
Cowie has won her position for the second year in a row, re-elected as the VP for Activities. She will extend her work from this academic year, trialing her club mark system and improving training on student group finance (SGF):
“Thank you to everyone who voted this year. The voter turnout was really great this year, and it has been a pleasure campaigning. Congratulations to all of the winners!
I’m really excited to be working with a new sabbatical team and be the voice for students whilst leading on change. Thank you for re-electing me!”
Mitalee Suchak was elected as the Union’s new VP for Communities, and is venturing to improve safer travel for students, an integrated career network, and improving student housing.
She spoke on her win to The Gaudie:
“Thank you to everyone who voted! I’m excited to begin this new role with the support of the student body backing me, making their experience a little bit better everyday.”
The new VP for Education is Courage Mene, who proposed a successful campaign on creating a stronger class representative system, having more student voices in the university’s senate, and academic support for transition students.
A press release from AUSA shared the election breakdown with 1,769 individual students casting votes, a turnout of 10% and a total of 6,084 individual votes cast.
Christina Schmid, outgoing Student President, reflected on her time in office:
“For the past 21 months, the other Officers and I have put an incredible amount of effort into representing the student body through a difficult time in the Higher Education sector and are grateful for all the support we have received from staff members, volunteers, and students. The Ethical Framework, the Democracy Review and the Student Mental Health Agreement are only a few of the projects that we have driven forward with determination.
Student Life hasn’t become easier throughout this time, the Cost-of-Living Crisis has increased, and visa restriction tightened further. In this challenging time, it is important to have a strong Students’ Union to be able to support students and amplify their voices.
I wish the incoming Officer Team a successful time in office and hope that they will be able to hit the ground running on July 1st.”
Well done to all candidates who ran campaigns, and congratulations to all who were elected winners!
