On Saturday April 1, the new Student Government representatives were announced on the NYU Abu Dhabi Student Life Facebook page. Kelly Murphy, class of 2018, secured 81.4 percent of this year’s votes for President, surpassing the one other candidate. Marie-Claude Hykpo, class of 2018, was elected unopposed as the new Student Government Vice-President. Nick Chaubey, class of 2018, was elected to the position of Global Vice President, while Ali Shazal, class of 2020, beat one other candidate for the position of Treasurer. Kate Melville-Rea, class of 2018, won Officer of Communications, with no other contenders. Aiza Usman, class of 2020, outperformed one other candidate to win Officer of Student Activities, while Tyler Headley, class of 2018 did the same to win Officer of External Affairs. Christine Dah-In Chung, class of 2019, was elected unopposed to the Student Senator Council. Finally, Hafsa Ahmed, Tamara Gjorgjieva and Dmitry Dobrovolskiy were elected as Representatives of the Class of 2020, 2019 and 2018 respectively.

In a report by the Elections Commission, the voter turnout for the Executive Board members was said to be better than that of last semester, with the lowest voter turnouts for Officer of Student Activities, 38.4 percent, Global Vice President, 40.3 percent, and Treasurer, 41.7 percent. The highest voter turnouts corresponded to Student Government Vice President, Officer of Communications and Student Senator Council, each at 50.7 percent. The voter turnout for Student Government President was slightly lower at 47.6 percent. The percentage of voters for class representatives were 57.5 percent, 45.6 percent and 44.9 percent for the class of 2020, 2019 and 2018 respectively. The Elections Commission articulated that the goal for the future would be to increase both voter and candidate turnout for the next Student Government elections.

Next year’s Student Government Executive Board is charged with enthusiasm and are eager to do their part to improve the NYUAD community. Newly-elected Student Government President Kelly Murphy expressed some of her goals and anticipations for next year. Murphy noted that one of the characteristics that distinguishes her from her predecessors is her experience with the Student Government team. Murphy served this academic year as the class of 2018 representative. She articulated that like herself, many of the newly elected board members have similar experience, and as such the transition process should be a rather smooth one, allowing for immediate advocacy for student interests, due to their familiarity with the processes, strengths and weaknesses of Student Government.

“I would like to focus on fostering an environment in which students feel comfortable expressing their opinions, and one which engenders community, respect and unity,” said Murphy. Some of her other focuses are increased as well as more effective communication. She admitted that these are intangible goals and as such expressed, “measurable aims of mine are establishing more payment options for fee-paying students and, of course, stocking feminine hygiene products in the public restrooms.” “The biggest challenge I see is engagement,” said Murphy. She acknowledged a drastic fall in General Assembly meeting attendance since the years at Sama and highlighted that despite efforts to give meetings more focus to attract students with specific interests, turnout has been poor. Moreover, Murphy is concerned that committees may continue to struggle to attract new members.

One of the priorities for Hafsa Ahmed, newly-elected Representatives of the Class of 2020, includes creating forums for her class to discuss issues with the aim of figuring out a resolution. Ahmed also intends to better prepare the class of 2020 for their study abroad semesters through coordination between the class and administrative personnel. Finally, she aims to promote greater bonding amongst the class of 2020 as well as the class of 2021, by introducing another iteration to the College Parents Program. Similar to Murphy, Ahmed feels strongly about General Assembly attendance and intends to improve the current situation through the use of various media to ensure that every student feels included. Furthermore, she is cautious of over-programming and wants to ensure that programs organized for the sophomores are done in an efficient manner so that they do not overburden the class but rather serve their purpose as respites from the stress of academics.