Eight students elected to U of T Governing Council

The results of U of T’s Governing Council elections were released on February 23, and the winners were officially elected on February 26. The campaign period ran from February 1–19, with voting available from February 8–19, during which time 53 students vied for just eight seats on the Governing Council. There are 50 seats in total on the Governing Council, eight of which are set aside for students. 

Students on the Governing Council have the ability to bring forward and vote on motions during Governing Council meetings. The Governing Council votes on important issues at the university, including the budget and the appointments of university officials, such as the president. 

Student seats on the council are divided between full-time undergraduate students, part-time undergraduate students, and graduate students. 

The winners of the full-time undergraduate student seats were Evan Kanter from Trinity College, with 530 votes; Vishar Yaghoubian from Woodsworth College, with 390 votes; Andrew Chen from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering (FASE), with 469 votes; and Kenneth Williams from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, with 330 votes. 

The winners of the part-time student seats were Susan Froom from Trinity College and Karen Ng from the FASE. There were no votes for these two seats, as there were only two students running. 

The winners of the graduate student seats were Mozynah Nofal from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, with 92 votes, and Amin Kamaleddin from the FASE. Kamaleddin’s seat did not require a vote because there was only one candidate who ran for it. 

This election cycle also saw a number of teaching staff elected to the Governing Council and elections for other governance councils, including the Academic Board and the campus councils for UTM and UTSC. 

Members of the Governing Council will vote on U of T’s budget in the coming months as details are finalized. Some have suggested that the relatively small number of student seats on the council is not sufficient to bring student concerns to the table during budget negotiations. 

Disclosure: Amin Kamaleddin currently serves on The Varsity’s Board of Directors.

Editor’s note (March 7): The headline of a previous version of this article claimed that 10 students were elected to Governing Council; the headline has been updated to correct that only eight students were elected.