It was a mixture of youth and experience elected to the UBC Senate Friday night, as Johannes Rebane, Joël Mertens, AJ Hajir Hajian, Spencer Rasmussen and Nader Beyzaei were the five at-large students elected to UBC’s highest academic decision-making body.
The elections of Rebane, current VP academic, and Mertens, incumbent student senator, were predicted by many ahead of time. The two fulfilled expectations by having the two highest vote totals of the 12 candidates in the running, and are expected to take a leadership role in the Student Senate Caucus this year.
“The Student Senate Caucus certainly had a strong year last year. Our comments were well-respected and we ensured that student concerns were heard,” said Mertens, adding, “I want to ensure that the Student Senate Caucus builds upon the respect we have earned and I will step up into a larger leadership role if that is what I think is required.”
“I think this gives myself and the rest of the elected Student Senate Caucus a very strong foundation and mandate to work off of as we continue to engage the student body on academic issues this upcoming year,” Rebane said.
Hajian (third place), Rasmussen (fourth place) and Beyzaei (fifth place), all of whom are in their third year, emerged from a crowded field to grab the final three spots.
“It’s great. Pretty much all my friends went out to vote, so it was the people that really supported me,” said Beyzaei, a third-year Commerce and Computer Science student. “I’m already working with a number of professors to make seminars more engaging.”
The five will join the Senate starting in April. Candidates who ran, but were not elected, were Aminollah Sabzevari, Blair McRadu, Alyssa Koehn, Miriam Sabzevari, Ryan Bredin, Gary Tse and former AMS President Blake Frederick, with Koehn coming the closest to victory.
Geoff Costeloe, current Senate vice-chair, had hopes that the new senators would help make “Place and Promise,” the new strategic plan for UBC, closer to reality.
“Every new senator should pick one issue that they are passionate about and really try to make a difference in that area,” he said.

—Justin McElroy

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