{"id":5491,"date":"2025-03-19T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T00:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=5491"},"modified":"2025-04-22T10:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T09:24:18","slug":"we-have-a-responsibility-to-stand-up-for-our-students-student-officers-announced-for-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2025\/03\/19\/we-have-a-responsibility-to-stand-up-for-our-students-student-officers-announced-for-2025-26\/","title":{"rendered":"“We have a responsibility to stand up for our students\u201d: Student officers announced for 2025\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three new faces are set to join the student officer team for 2025\/2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

An eager crowd gathered on Friday 14th March in Union Brew to hear Chair of Student Council Kaitlin Agius deliver the results.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The student officers (also known as Sabbatical Officers) are a group of full-time, paid student representatives. The group, elected each Spring for the following academic year, must work as a team to represent the individual issues for each of their categories, whether that be at a university, local, or national level.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spanish and Politics graduate Christina Schmid is set to reprise her role as Student President. Her promises to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, and to revamp AUSA\u2019s democracy won her 838 votes, 352 more than second-placed David C. Kalu.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christina also wants to organise a month-long celebration for the 25<\/span>th<\/span> anniversary of AUSA to illustrate the achievements of the university and engage alumni. Talking to The Gaudie<\/em> after her election win, Christina said:<\/span><\/p>\n

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to every student who put their faith in me for a second term. Your trust means everything, and I\u2019m excited to start working with the new team to make real change happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Going forward, my priority is ensuring that no student has to struggle with affording necessities like housing and food.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Students\u2019 Union, we have a responsibility to stand up for our students and push for meaningful solutions. I\u2019m committed to working alongside the team to make sure every student feels supported during these challenging times.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Promises to enhance mental health support, improve the international student experience, and campaigning for stronger student housing rights saw Psychology graduate Karim Hurtig re-elected as VP Welfare, pipping current Social Science convenor Erin Campbell to the post. Speaking on the day, Karim said:<\/span><\/p>\n

“[I am] feeling really good and excited to get to do this work for another year and looking forward to working with the new team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hannah Cowie, a 4<\/span>th<\/span> year German and Linguistics student will take over the role of VP Activities from departing T\u00f5nis Tilk, a win which saw Cowie, beating second-placed Nour El-Shenawy by just 84 votes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hannah\u2019s campaign focused on making activities more inclusive and safe, as well as working to create a smoother transition to the finance system for clubs, societies and groups. This system received backlash from students at the recent AGM, something Hannah promises to tackle. Hannah shared how she was feeling about her win with The Gaudie<\/em>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very grateful for the opportunity to be Vice President for Activities and excited to see what the future brings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With the current VP for Communities, Ainhoa Burgos Aguilera set to wrap up her tenure, 4th year Politics and IR student Jonathan Dorrat is set to replace her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan\u2019s promises to introduce a student starter pack for international students, and a commitment to start an inter-faith forum saw him edging out second placed Cal Birtley, winning 490 votes. Thanking the electorate he said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the student body voting, I look forward to taking on the community mandate, bringing in new ideas and building upon Ainoa’s great work on sustainability especially with the new tool Library.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve enjoyed speaking to students over the campaign period and hearing what they want to see improve on campus. Hopefully we can make some real effective change in 2025\/26 for our student community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With Miles Rothoerl opting to bow out of the role of VP Education having served just one year out of a possible two, it is 5th year Civil Engineering student Samuel Seymour who will replace him in July.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vowing to enhance the class representative system and to combine the University\u2019s online systems, alongside lobbying for more varied assessment methods saw Samuel elected, amassing just 34 votes more than 4th year Babu John. He spoke of his delight at the news:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted to be elected as the next Vice-President for Education. Election week has had its ups and downs, and I\u2019m grateful for everyone who supported me throughout. I\u2019d like to commend the other candidates for their efforts. I can\u2019t wait to get started, and I look forward to an exciting year ahead for the University and Students\u2019 Union.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The election saw the third highest voter turnout in the last 10 years, with 8433 votes cast and a turnout of 12.2%. However, this number includes a notable drop-off from last year\u2019s engagement of 14.2%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this drop-off, a spokesperson for the Students\u2019 Union celebrated the results:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Aberdeen University Students\u2019 Union is proud to announce the results of this year\u2019s Student Officer Elections, with 2,109 students casting their votes, our third highest turnout in a decade.<\/span><\/p>\n

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all candidates and voters who participated in this year’s Student Officer Elections. We are encouraged by just how many students got involved in both campaigning, participating through voting. The enthusiasm and dedication shown throughout the campaigning period clearly reflect how passionate students are about engaging with shaping their Union and advocating for issues that matter to them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They continued, commenting on the candidates\u2019 campaigns:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery candidate ran an honest and fair campaign, contributing to a vibrant and engaging election process. Their efforts alongside the strong voter turnout demonstrate a Union driven by student voices.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we welcome the newly elected officers, we look forward to seeing the changes they will bring and the impact they will make. Their leadership will build on the work of previous officers, ensuring the University of Aberdeen’s’ Student needs remain at the heart of everything we do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaitlin Agius, Chair of Student Council, spoke to <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i>\u00a0about her thoughts on the election and the hard work that went into the campaign week:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that this has been a fantastic election season. All of the candidates put so much work into their campaigns and were so dedicated to representing students. This year there was a real sense of community between the candidates, which really emphasised how deserving they all were of these positions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaitlin also commented on the high number of votes:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTurnout was also brilliant this year, with us achieving a podium win of third highest turnout in 10 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to thank all those involved, our candidates, and everyone that voted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three new faces are set to join the student officer team for 2025\/2026. An eager crowd gathered on Friday 14th March in Union Brew to hear Chair of Student Council Kaitlin Agius deliver the results.\u00a0\u00a0 The student officers (also known as Sabbatical Officers) are a group of full-time, paid student representatives. The group, elected each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":5492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":42,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1220,1205,200,1184,1219,201,183],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-5491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-2025-26","9":"tag-amelia-boag-mcglynn","10":"tag-ausa","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-student-officer-elections","13":"tag-students-union","14":"tag-university-of-aberdeen"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Amelia Boag","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/ameliamcg07\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Pic-1-edit-300x195.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["2025\/26<\/a>","Amelia boag mcglynn<\/a>","AUSA<\/a>","news<\/a>","student officer elections<\/a>","Students' Union<\/a>","University of Aberdeen<\/a>"],"unlinked":["2025\/26<\/span>","Amelia boag mcglynn<\/span>","AUSA<\/span>","news<\/span>","student officer elections<\/span>","Students' Union<\/span>","University of Aberdeen<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 1 year ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 19 March 2025","modified":"Updated on 22 April 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 19 March 2025 00:00","modified":"Updated on 22 April 2025 10:24"},"featured_img_caption":"Student Ofiicers 2025\/26. Credit: AUSA.","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5493,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491\/revisions\/5493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5491"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=5491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}