The votes are in and your new Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) President is Jerry Thomas. An international student studying Business Management, Thomas has spent the last year working with the FSU as the Finance Coordinator.

Voting closed at 2 p.m. on March 5, after being open for a longer-than-usual window. Voting opened on FanshaweOnline (FOL) on March 2, allowing for one extra days of voting compared to previous years. The results of the election were announced on March 5 at 3 p.m. in Forwell Hall. Thomas was visibly emotional as the results were announced.

“The day I started my program at Fanshawe, I really saw that I wanted to become someone. To do something,” Thomas said. “So when I came here, I saw the president position, and that was always my aim, since day one. This is a good platform, where I can serve every student, so I’m really grateful to receive this.”

Thomas went on to thank all those who voted for him, stating how grateful he was to them for putting their trust and belief in him.

Thomas won with 996 votes, well ahead of the runner-up Shadé Dias, who finished with 784 votes. A total of 4,215 ballots were cast in the election, a noticeable increase from last year’s 2,826 ballots. It marks the highest voter turnout since online voting was introduced in 2006.

Current FSU President Siddharth Singh said he was pleased with the increased voter response and student engagement.

“Overall, I’m happy with the elections,” Singh said. “I’m happy with how respectful each of the candidates were. The numbers were high in all aspects of the elections as well.”

Thomas, meanwhile, added that the high number of presidential candidates helped the elections reach various demographics of students.

“This year [there were] seven candidates, from different ethnicities, different backgrounds, different demographics, which really shows how Fanshawe is diverse and inclusive,” Thomas said.

Thomas ran on a platform of serving students and supporting student success. His key platform initiatives were advocating for child-minding services for student parents, enhancing multi-faith spaces for inclusivity, introducing scholarships that recognize student excellence, supporting domestic students with career development and financial aid and promoting sustainability through food recovery programs and bike rentals.

“Since I’ve already been working with the FSU as the Finance Coordinator, [my first actions] would be all the promises and all the points in my manifesto.”

Thomas wasn’t the only winner; out of 11 candidates, eight students were also elected to the FSU Board of Directors. The newly-elected Board of Directors are:

• Henry Johan Quispe Cruz
• Shivani Shashikant Sohoni
• Janhavi Nandurkar
• Gurmeet Singh Kalra
• Ankit Sharma
• Mitul Khristi
• Shreya Jignesh Barchha
• Shagun Patel

Ankit Sharma was also acclaimed to the Fanshawe Board of Governors, as the only student who ran for the position. The new team of executives will begin their roles on May 1.