Anjali Seshadri elected DSU president

By: Jonas May and Dylan Follett

Anjali Seshadri says she is entering her term with confidence after being unofficially elected as the next president of the Dalhousie Student Union on Feb. 14.

“There’s a lot of promise in the changes that I want to make in the union,” says Seshadri, a third-year applied computer science student. “I’m really glad to see that students are confident in a platform that I’m excited to implement over my term.”

She received 43 per cent of the vote, beating Mia Jager — the sole opposing candidate — by just 47 votes. If no appeals are made, the results of the general election will be made official by Feb. 16 at 11:59 p.m.

The voting period closed Feb. 13 at 8:30 p.m., after being extended 48 hours due to quorum not being met, according to an email sent to election candidates from the union’s chief returning officer, obtained by the Dalhousie Gazette. The required quorum is 10 per cent of the student population — approximately 2,200 votes. 

2539 students — or 12.5 per cent of the student population — voted in the election.

Campaigning on a more “open and accountable” student union, Seshadri is no stranger to the DSU, currently serving as the 2SLGBTQIA+ students’ community representative. She takes over the presidential role from Maren Mealey in May. 

Other executive victors

Suha Manal, a third-year biology student, was elected as vice-president internal in a four-candidate race. 

Manal wants the DSU to plan more student events during her term than it currently does. 

“I want to immediately push to make the budget last for a little bit longer than just [orientation week],” she says.

Her main goal is to increase student inclusivity on campus through more society events, which she hopes comes from her push for increased funding. 

Opry Dey, a third-year computer science student, was elected as vice-president academic and external after running unopposed. 

Dey was “overwhelmed with joy and happiness” when she got the call that she won the position. She ran on a campaign of affordability, accessibility, transparency and academic flexibility for students. 

“I’m going to keep my promises to all 20,000 students of Dalhousie University.” 

Seshadri says she’s excited to start working with her executive team.

“There’s some common ground there when it comes to understanding how there’s a lack of transparency at the DSU; that’s going to be a common uniting factor over the next year.”

Council representatives

Third-year microbiology and immunology student Steven Mata was elected as board of governors representative. Aditya Sathish, a fourth-year student in her first year of Dal’s sustainability program, was elected 2SLGBTQIA+ students’ community representative. 

Incumbent Eve Wedderburn, a third-year medical sciences student, was re-elected to her current role of Black students’ community representative and Joshua DSouza, a third-year chemical engineering student, was elected as residence students’ community representative. Both candidates ran unopposed. 

Many council positions were left vacant following the election, including the Indigenous students’ and international students’ community representative positions. Three of seven community representative positions and four of 12 faculty representative positions were filled. 

Seshadri wants to focus on union governance during her term, hoping to increase student representation and engagement with the DSU. 

“Students really need encouragement to be able to take on these roles, a lot of people feel unsure, and they don’t have governance experience,” she says. 

“It’s important for us to be open and to encourage them and to give them the resources that they need.”