Undergraduate students will vote for the Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) next president in the upcoming general election on Feb. 7 to 9 through emailed ballots.
Two candidates have been successfully nominated and are running for the position.
Current CUSA vice-president (student issues) and fourth-year mechanical engineering student Mohamed “Faris” Riazudden is running against third-year environmental science student Raiden Dean.
Mohamed “Faris” Riazudden
After last year’s presidential election, Riazudden was appointed by council as CUSA’s vice-president (student issues). He said his experience in this role has helped him understand CUSA’s structure.
If elected, Riazudden said he hopes to continue the advocacy efforts he began this year into the future.
Riazudden has also previously served as a CUSA councillor and a program coordinator for the Mental Wellness Centre.
“I call myself a CUSA baby,” Rizadudden said.
“There’s so much more potential that I could achieve as president,” he said. “[I want to] continue the work that I’ve been doing, and explore other avenues that the president’s position can do and advocate with students with a new perspective for CUSA.”
Riazudden has four main platform points: tuition guarantee, clubs funding, student jobs and compassionate grading.
His additional policies include a focus on international students, sexual violence prevention, equity, diversity and inclusion, student life and mental health.
Riazudden said he has already advanced some of these initiatives through his current position. He introduced the “Guarantee my Education” and “Mosaic” advocacy campaigns this academic year, which promote reduced tuition fees and inclusivity among students, respectively.
“I am always there, at the ground level,” he said. “You want to listen to people and hear from them and be with them, to lead with them instead of just sitting back in the office behind a desk.”
Raiden Dean
Dean said he decided to run because he wanted to address issues on campus he feels are not being dealt with.
“I have a lot of friends and people that I know, just from working at Ollie’s, that have a lot of issues, not only with CUSA, but with the university itself,” Dean said.
“I’m a very different candidate [than anyone] I’ve ever seen run or even try to run,” he said. “Everyone else that I’ve met or seen, they’ve all come from political backgrounds, but I’m just a regular student.”
Dean’s main platform points are related to accessibility on campus, particularly handicap buttons and water fountains.
He also said he wants to provide professional guidance to clubs and increase their funding. When it comes to tuition, he said he’s advocating for tuition payment installments.
“I recognize that there are [students] who are in much worse situations that I’m in, so I know that they would definitely be able to use this,” he said.
Dean said he loves interacting with students and he thinks it’s important to represent the needs of students.
“I feel like we could work together to make a more inclusive, accessible and financially stable community at Carleton,” he said. “I’m trying to run for people, not myself.”
Featured graphic by Maryam Teima.
