By Jillian French – News Editor

Unofficial results of the 2025-26 SRC election have been posted in an email sent on Feb. 28, 2024. Out of nine open positions on the Board of Directors, six applicants campaigned, and all were elected: Anthony Dumas, Jessie Graddon, Josef Spence, Juliette Chaput, Maude Demouy-Girard, and Mirana Iliza. Three students were elected to senator positions and will represent their division serving on the Bishop’s senate: Emily Miller in education, Sonoma Brawley in humanities and Liam Stewart in social sciences. 

This marks the first election since the SRC adopted the new bylaws approving the BSR restructuring in the fall of 2024. These bylaws will dissolve the current executive and representative roles in the BSR in favour of nine general directors. Among themselves, the board will select a president and vice-president, to be selected in “the next 30 days,” as stated in the Feb. 28 email.

The election highlighted some major issues in engagement with student government at Bishop’s. The BSR restructuring was approved to fix problems such as non-competitive elections, student burnout, and election confusion. However, the spring elections featured extremely low student engagement, leaving six positions unfilled due to a lack of applicants. 

Out of nine director positions open, only six students ran, leaving three positions unfilled. Out of six senator positions, an additional three were left unfilled (graduate studies, natural science, and business). Few upper-year students applied for positions (out of six directors who ran, for example, five were first-years and one was second-year) and an overwhelming majority of both director and senator candidates ran completely unopposed. Only one position (education senator) was contested. During the debate night on Thursday, Feb 20, candidates presented their ideas to a crowd of under 30, most of whom are currently serving SRC members. In short, the election was un-competitive; student engagement was concerningly low.

When asked how the SRC plans to address these gaps in the newly-appointed board, Drew Henkel, SRC president, responded to The Campus: “The SRC will hold a by-election to fill the remaining seats, which should be expected to take place in the fall, depending on the newly elected Board’s decision. In the meantime, the newly elected Board has enough candidates to continue functioning effectively”.  Although there will be “comprehensive training and mentorship” to properly integrate students filling the vacant positions, a fall election period will still represent a setback, undercutting the new bylaws’ goal of onboarding BSR leaders at the same time. 

Students may also question how student leadership burnout can be properly addressed with an understaffed board, especially as the six new directors navigate a brand-new BSR structure.

In response to the vacant senator positions, the SRC told The Campus that “we are in the process of changing the way we elect senators”. Although they are waiting for university and legal input,  “it seems that the BSR should be able to appoint senators instead of running an election for these positions… which would be especially beneficial in situations where we are unable to find students willing to take on the role”. 

“We acknowledge the lack of competition and will work on encouraging more candidates in future elections through targeted outreach and information sessions”, says Henkel. However, he adds, “This being the first year of transition, we anticipate an adjustment period. Other schools that have undergone similar transitions experienced a similar adjustment period, followed by a rise in engagement the following years”.

The newly elected directors echo this sentiment: during the debate, multiple candidates highlighted their hope to increase student engagement. Addressing this issue, Maude Demouy-Girard, a first-year accounting student and elected director, said “We clearly have a recruitment problem, which I’d like to see fixed”. 

Among other projects, the directors highlighted the smooth integration of the new bylaws, increasing on-campus job opportunities, creating third-space support/study places, and improving resources for the MEP (Menstrual Equity Program). All six directors echoed a desire to improve communication between the student body and SRC.

For the senators’ part, Emily Miller, Education Senator plans to implement more peer mentorship programs and social events in the division. Sonoma Brawley, Humanities Senator, highlighted her work  with the Humanities Bonanza and the Jarislowsky Lecture series and Liam Stewart, Social Sciences Senator, plans to increase student engagement within the department and remove barriers to academic success.