Third-year pharmacology and global health double major Tala Mehdi told The Varsity that her campaign is centred on prioritizing student clubs, specifically new ones and those promoting diversity and inclusion, through increased funding and resources. Since elementary school, Mehdi has been involved in student council positions. She is the current St. Michael’s College Student Union’s VP student organizations, and is the founder and president of the Arab Student Association at UTSG. “[Having been] on both sides of it — being in and leading a student club, while also supervising other student clubs around me — [these positions] gave me more of a holistic perspective on what needs to be done more for students and student clubs on campus,” she said. Mehdi plans to bring back the tri-campus parade at U of T, to better organize the layout of the UTSU clubs fair during orientation week, and to promote a UTSU concert.

Miglani also aims to make transit more affordable by subsidizing students’ Uber or rideshare costs, adding that  UTSU’s current rideshare program is inadequate because it only offers four dollars off two rides a month. The UTSU introduced and then prematurely ended its rideshare pilot program earlier this academic year after the program ran out of money.

Hunar Miglani is a first-year student who plans to major in political science and economics with a minor in psychology. She has interned with LaunchX — an organization that promotes entrepreneurship among youth — and through that, has connected with other students from all around the world. She was also secretary general of her high school’s Model United Nations team and the president of the school’s mock trial club. As VP student life, Miglani would like to help integrate international students into the campus community by hosting cultural functions where students from diverse backgrounds can share their perspectives and represent themselves. She believes this would help make U of T a more vibrant, tolerant space where every student can reach their fullest potential.

Miglani wants to increase awareness of the union, claiming that the greatest barrier that  prevents students from taking advantage of UTSU services is that they don’t know the services exist.

For the past two years, Lellow Sedio — a second-year student majoring in book and media studies and double-minoring in BPM and creative expression and society — has worked for the university as a Student Programming Assistant, where she had experience speaking with students one-on-one and creating programs catered to their needs. 

Sedio recognizes the need for accessibility improvement in a few areas; she would like to broaden the extent of the UTSU’s current mental health insurance and ensure students with dependents and mature students are provided with resources tailored to them. If elected, Sedio hopes to help negotiate a transit fare discount through a U-Pass program and increase the accessibility of funds to student clubs. Sedio also stresses the importance of outreach to first years. She explains that orientation week feels like a hectic rush, and afterward, “it’s like every man for themselves.” Sedio hopes to improve orientation week to avoid new students feeling like they’re “rushing through it.” She also proposed that the UTSU coordinate with the colleges to offer more major campus-wide events throughout the year, such as gala events.

Serenity Tuyet Mai Bui — a second-year majoring in bioethics, sociology, and Buddhism, psychology, and mental health (BPM) — told The Varsity that she decided to run because she wants to help solve the issues that students have brought to her in her current role as a director on the UTSU’s board. 

Bui currently serves as event coordinator for the Vietnamese Student Association, which she says has given her experience with planning and logistics. If elected, she pledged to focus on simplifying and promoting the processes for accessing funding and connecting with clubs on a “personal level” through more frequent check-ins and office hours where she can receive feedback.

She also plans to set up suggestion boxes around campus for students to express how the UTSU can improve its work. For upcoming events, Xiao wants to send emails to students and set up posters to advertise future activities. 

Xiao says, “I really want the students, like me, to be really proud of our identity as U of T students.”

Anna Xiao — a first-year student studying physical and mathematical sciences — currently serves as a first-year representative at the UTSU and has prior experience hosting and planning school events, including concerts and carnivals. Xiao described her campaign focuses as “multidimensional.” If elected, she plans on holding carnivals during reading week and planning student-led lectures. She hopes to improve the living environment for students by working with the U of T administration to postpone construction on campus to the summer instead of during the school year and by developing questionnaires for students to voice their ideas.

Aviral (Avi) Dhamija — a fourth-year double–majoring in philosophy and international relations — hopes to expand the UTSU’s scope to focus on structures that contribute to inequities. 

Alongside organizing with progressive campus groups Students Mobilizing Against Systematic Hardship and Tkarón:to Students for Palestine, they told The Varsity about their experience producing a podcast series called UnCover that delves into equity issues on campus.

Dhamija noted that the current room booking policy presents “one of the biggest immediate material hurdles for any non-UTSU related club or political organizing” because groups often struggle to find spaces without long waits and high fees. Along with changing this policy, they also aim to partner with and create mutual aid networks where students can share food.

Sakeena Mohammad — a third-year student studying public policy, political science, and French — served this year as a UTSU executive assistant to the president and as a third-year representative for the Public Policy Student Association. 

In an interview with The Varsity, Mohammad emphasizes safety advocacy as a primary campaign focus, highlighting the importance of creating a secure campus environment in light of recent voyeurism incidents. She also hopes to advocate for tailored programming to further support underrepresented groups, particularly international students. Mohammad seeks to initiate dialogue with student clubs and cultural organizations to address shared challenges collaboratively. She aims to proactively engage with registered clubs under the UTSU, prioritizing meetings with the presidents and chairs of cultural and religious groups to develop policies reflecting their values. 

“Being part of the [professional faculties] allows me to advocate and understand the issues that are happening,” she said in an interview with The Varsity. “I’d really love to foster… connections with the other student unions and be able to bring those issues to light.” If she’s elected, she hopes to coordinate with student unions across the professional faculties, including lesser-known unions, to amplify their voices and help get sponsorship for student aid programs. 

As a student in the professional faculties, Erica Nguyen — a third-year specialist in visual studies at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture — thinks a lot of these faculties are overlooked. 

Nguyen is new to student politics, but she’s interested in the position because of her experiences as a visual studies student. Over the past year, she says she’s been learning a lot more about the UTSU. She feels like many of the union’s services for the professional faculties are underused because students don’t know about the benefits they’re paying for. She wants to raise awareness of those benefits and services so students can use them.

Nguyen’s campaign is focused on student aid across the board — she also wants to advocate for resources for students in unpaid placement programs in faculties like Pharmacy and Nursing. She wants to be able to hold more events, such as networking events, especially for “less represented faculties” on campus. She doesn’t have specific plans for how to resolve the disputes that have come up in the past year between the UTSU and the Engineering Society, but she’s hoping to “keep a good relationship” between them in the upcoming one.