Four choices, five vacancies: CUSA’s faculty of arts and social sciences councillor candidates

Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) councillor byelections begin Oct. 17 with 12 seats to fill. There are four students running for five vacant councillor positions for the faculty of arts and social sciences (FASS). 

Eligible students will receive an emailed ballot and may submit their votes until end of day Oct. 19.

CUSA vice-president (internal) Davin Caratao told the Charlatan the remaining FASS councillor seat will be filled through an in-council vote.

The Charlatan asked each candidate to send a brief written profile. Profiles have been edited for length and clarity and are listed in order of receipt.

Nkosinothando Mhlanga

I am Nkosinothando Mhlanga, Nkosi (n-ko-see) for short. My name is the direct Zulu translation of “God has love,” which was passed onto me by my grandmother. I am a second-year environmental studies student and I work as one of the front desk staff at CUSA. 

In many ways, working with students has allowed me to get a glimpse of what I always thought the “university experience” would be. 

However, in a pandemic reality we are all finding it a little difficult to form lasting social connections, and that lack of community means we continuously miss out on valuable information about existing resources.

As an international student, I understand the bigger stress of finding a home away from home and travelling far to find an institution that challenges and broadens your mind.

In FASS, I believe there could be many more opportunities that promote this because we are the faculty with the largest number of students. We are the ones who seek knowledge past our respective fields. However, ongoing seminars no longer widely promote moderated online options, making them inaccessible or disinteresting for many. 

In-person engagement is steadily declining because seminars are not held during hours where the greatest number of students are free. Intersectional experiences are also not widely discussed or recognized.

I seek to enact practical changes that will ultimately create an interconnected university experience for FASS to foster more empowering spaces.

Maya James

Hi, my name is Maya James. I am a second-year transfer student obtaining a bachelor of arts honours in anthropology. 

I spent the past year sailing the Atlantic Ocean and am ready to get involved in Carleton and have this year be smooth sailing. If you do not find me cuddled with a book and baked goods, you can find me hitting the slopes on my snowboard.

I am running for CUSA council because I believe it is crucial to advocate for issues that you see present and hold the people in charge accountable. I have experience as student council president at my high school and know how to listen and take student voices into account. 

I am the Canadian youth representative for Sail Training International, which has connected me to many people from different backgrounds and allowed me to understand concerns from different perspectives and efficiently present these ideas.

Giving me your vote would allow you to see yourself on CUSA council. You would get a fully willing person to talk to about your needs in FASS.

Sean Cruz

Hello, my name is Sean Cruz. I’m a third-year cognitive science honours student. 

I enjoy going to the gym in the morning and playing League of Legends at night. I chose cognitive science because I am interested in artificial intelligence.

Last year, I served as the vice president (cultural affairs) for the Carleton University Filipino Students’ Association, which helped me build abilities such as organization, communication and management—all of which are important for the role of CUSA councillor. 

I’m running for three different reasons: to become more connected with the student community so that I can have a positive influence, to ensure there is transparency between CUSA and the student body as a whole to maintain good governance within the association and to hold executives accountable for their misconduct if necessary so that students can have confidence in CUSA.

Grace Murray

My name is Grace Murray and I am very excited to be running for CUSA councillor this year. I am a first-year student at Carleton studying psychology. Next year, I am hoping to set my concentration in forensics. 

In my spare time I like to watch true crime documentaries and bake (I make really good chocolate chip cookies). I was born and raised in the small town of Cobourg, Ont., which is only about three hours west of Ottawa. As I am new to Ottawa, I enjoy exploring and trying as many new coffee places as possible, so any recommendations would be appreciated. 

I have experience with student government as I was on my high school’s student council and loved being involved with student life and events. I would love the opportunity to be a part of CUSA, as I think it would be a good experience to grow and meet new people. 

I am definitely an outgoing person and would like to contribute my ideas and experiences as well as help other students along their journey of navigating university life.

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Featured graphic by Angel Xing.