Students’ Union announces Leadership Race winners

Source: UCL Imagestore

Students’ Union UCL has announced the winners of its Leadership Race, grappling with low voter turnout amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Students’ Union announced the results of this year’s Leadership Race on Friday 20th March. Throughout the week, UCL students voted to elect seven full-time Sabbatical Officers, Part-Time Officers, and Club and Society leaders for the next academic year. 

Voted in for full-time roles are: Ilyas Benmouna for Activities Officer, Sandy Ogundele for Black and Minority Ethnic Students’ Officer, Carol Paige for Democracy, Education and Community Officer, Ayman Benmati for Education Officer, Jim Onyemenam for Postgraduate Students’ Officer, Yasmeen Daoud for Welfare and International Officer, and Aarushi Menon for Women’s Officer. You can find all the other winners on the SU website.

The “Question the Candidates” event, originally scheduled for Monday 16th March, was cancelled after UCL closed campus in response to the coronavirus pandemic. However, candidates running for Sabbatical Officer positions still provided their answers via the Students’ Union website and social media platforms.

Carol Paige, elected for a second year in office as Democracy, Education and Community Officer, said she would “make sure that the SU comes out of these troubling times stronger than ever.” She will continue to work on sustainability, including the Union’s first sustainability strategy as well as strengthening  “the Student Sustainability Council as the forum for students to talk to UCL and the Students’ Union about sustainability.” She also plans to introduce more affordable deals in Union cafes with an increased range of vegetarian, vegan and gluten friendly options.

“Given the current situation, I will be continuing to ensure UCL take the student experience seriously in their COVID-19 planning, making sure that any decisions are made with student welfare in mind,” Carol explained. 

Jim Onyemenam also won for a second time as Postgraduate Students’ Officer. His achievements include securing monthly PhD stipends, a larger Welcome Fair with more Postgraduate focus, improved childcare provisions on campus, and working towards redesigning degree certificates. He had originally planned to prioritize his ongoing projects; however, “although some of these are still progressing consistently, particularly the PhD stipends, the current situation has caused a stagnation in others,” Jim explained. 

He added: “the current situation comes with priorities of its own which have affected what I will be doing over the next year. Currently I am involved in a large number of UCL’s COVID-19 response groups, particularly those that look at Examinations and Assessments, Remote Teaching, and the impact on Research.” Jim will continue his involvement in the committees, ensuring “that the impact that the current situation has on the learning and academic performance of all students, particularly postgraduate students, is appropriately mitigated.” With an eventual return to normalcy, he aims to continue the work on his original priorities.

The role of Activities Officer had the most people running, while the current BME Officer, Sandy, ran unopposed for a second term in the role. 

Ilyas Benmouna, the new Activities Officer, pledged in his manifesto to “ensure the inclusivity of all students at UCL in every club or society,” including improving accessibility for disabled students and reworking the current system for addressing bullying complaints within societies. He also plans on lobbying to ensure good quality facilities for all sports clubs at UCL. 

As BME Officer, Sandy will continue to prioritise decolonizing education, community building and welfare support, greater accountability and transparency, and creating more opportunities for BME students. 

The elections suffered very low overall voter turnout, with a total of only 5456 votes. Out of over 40,000 students enrolled at UCL, 11.79% voted – lower than last year’s turnout of 15.4%. Voting was at its highest in 2018, with 15.6% of all UCL students participating. 

Low voter turnout in this election was not unexpected; voting week coincided with the introduction of stricter measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which may have decreased student engagement. The previous Friday (13th March), UCL announced that it would close campus, moving classes and assessments online wherever possible and allowing only essential research to continue. The UK’s approach gradually escalated throughout voting week until PM Boris Johnson ordered the closure of all pubs, restaurants, gyms and other venues on Friday 20th March. For UCL students, this was a stressful period as many were making last-minute trips home, dealing with lockdown measures, and facing uncertainty around the assessment period.

However, in emails sent to students throughout the week, the Union sought to highlight precisely why they were holding elections despite the disruption. As current Sabbatical Officers are working with UCL on its COVID-19 response, the Union explained that good student representation would be vital once things started returning to normal: “Electing next year's student leaders now is the best chance we have of starting the 2020-21 academic year in the best possible way.”