The October 2024 EUSA elections took place this week.
At the start of the month, candidates were nominated to join the Edinburgh University Student Association. Students could vote for Postgraduate Representatives, Campaign Representatives, a Carers’ Representative, and a Trans and Non-binary Liberation Officer.
Voting opened on Monday the 14 October, and concluded on the 17.
The postgraduate positions are available for all taught and research-based postgraduate degrees, in which a chosen candidate will represent their cohort.
The positions of Carers’ Representative and Trans and Non-binary Officer are pastoral-based roles, focusing on developing a more inclusive University community for everyone, especially those within their respective communities.
The Carers’ Representative is the face for students who have additional caring responsibilities on top of their academic studies.
Student carers have voiced a desire for better support services in the University and flexible learning options for student carers. The candidates for this role hope to implement these changes during their terms.
The Trans and Non-binary Officer candidates are pushing for quality of life improvements such as easier access to gender-neutral facilities and trans involvement in sports.
Candidates for these roles believe it is imperative that their groups feel well-supported by the University and that they are able to form a community with those around them.
The Student interviewed some Campaign Representatives, who have each chosen an area they personally feel needs to be addressed within University life.
Representatives are campaigning on a broad range of specialities such as sustainability, decolonisation, and mental health. Each candidate has written their own manifesto to lay out their aims and try to earn students’ votes.
Bintang Dirya, a Campaign Representative candidate, is focusing on student loneliness.
Following the pandemic, Dirya believes student loneliness has become an “under the radar issue” and that a designated person needs to be elected into a role with this as their focus so it can receive the attention it deserves.
Inspired by a similar study at Cambridge University, Dirya wants to conduct research regarding loneliness at Edinburgh University to produce concrete findings, from which real changes can be made.
“With hard data, we can have a real impact on the sense of community and belonging at the University,” said Dirya.
Karen Luo is another candidate whose campaign is for the experience of international students.
She told The Student that she is “deeply passionate” about advocating for the individual needs of the international community, especially for their mental health.
She also plans to address this by creating specific programmes for the cohort, in order to enhance academic and career success.
In an interview with The Student, she said she wants to “foster a more welcoming, inclusive and supportive campus environment for all international students,” an aim which is driven by her own experiences.
The election results were announced on 18 October.
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