A crowded field of postgraduate and undergraduate students are contesting to represent their retrospective cohort for two years on the University Senate.
The University Senate is the governing authority of the University and oversees all the major policy decisions. It is also responsible for staff and student welfare and appoints the Vice Chancellor in addition to other executive positions.
The Senate directly influences other student organisations like the USU, which has two Senate appointed directors on the Board.
The current student representatives are Yinfeng (Benny) Shen (Independent) and Benjamin Jorgensen (Liberal), who were both elected in 2022 and represent postgraduate and undergraduate students respectively.
Honi revealed that the University performed extensive background checks on all the candidates in a major policy shift that is part of a larger focus on compliance in the context of an increased government spotlight on universities.
An 100-word candidate statement will be uploaded to the election website and a voting link will be sent to all students via email on October 8. Voting lasts until October 24 at 4pm.
Honi has not been able to contact or find publicly available information on all of the candidates. When factional status is known, Honi has noted it.
The candidates whose nominations have been accepted are as follows.
Postgraduate:
- Yinfeng (Benny) Shen (Independent)
Shen is running for reelection after a landslide win in 2022 where he got double the votes of his closest competitor. He is currently doing his PhD at the Business School.
He is an experienced student representative who served on the USU Board as honorary treasurer from 2020 to 2021. He has also played an active role in SUPRA where he has served as Education Officer as well as taking part in multiple campaigns such as the recent push to secure concession cards for part time and international students.
- Weihong Liang (Independent)
Liang has just finished his Master’s thesis studying domestic Chinese politics and is now pursuing a PhD in the same area.
He served as SUPRA president last year and is most well known for his work on international student advocacy including on the transport concession campaign as well as setting up the new International Student Representative Council which connects foreign student representatives from across the country.
- Cooper Gannon (Liberal)
Gannon has been one of the most prominent conservative voices on the campus for years. He is currently the Secretary of the NSW Young Liberals and was formerly the President of the USyd Conservative Club.
When serving as a Liberal councillor on the SRC, Gannon was infamous for his criticism of activism, staff strikes and advocacy for the Defence Department recruiting at O-Week. He was also elected last year to serve as a University representative to the NUS.
- Cole Truman
Undergraduate:
- Teng Yong Khoo (Independent)
Khoo is studying Econometrics and Data Science and is attempting to get elected as a student representative for a second time. Khoo withdrew from the USU Board election last year after scoring only 15% on the Honi quiz.
When they attended the University of Adelaide, they served as International Students officer while also serving on the executives of multiple faculty societies.
- Jarrod Field
- Miesha Noor
Noor is a Science/Law student who currently works for the Student Centre. They have served as a Peer Support Advisor and Student Ambassador while also playing an active role in Sydney University Law Society (SULS) as the Ethnocultural Officer last year.
In 2022, they were one of the fifteen students elected to represent students on the Academic Board and have also served on the USyd Academic Standards and Policy Committee.
- Emily Skipper
Skipper is an English and Drama student who attends Women’s College. They are active in Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS) and currently lead the Cheerleading Society.
They have already attended Senate meetings as a representative of SUSF and student athletes.
- Alexander Poirier (Unity)
Poirier studies at the Conservatorium of Music and is currently President of the Sydney Conservatorium Students’ Association.
They are a veteran student politician who served as a USU Board Director from 2022 to earlier this year as well as serving on the SRC Council as the current Intercampus Officer. His past campaigns have focused on representing fine art and music students and straightening the University’s ties with satellite campuses.
- Jack Mars
Mars is an Engineering/Law student who was Treasurer of the STEM Law Society from 2020 to 2021 and worked as a volunteer legal assistant at Redfern Legal Centre. They have not had any direct roles representing students within the University.
- Ned Graham (NLS)
Graham currently serves on the SRC Council and on the executive. He was also elected to the Standing Legal Committee after last year’s SRC Election.
He has been a relatively quiet voice in SRC Council meetings so far this year with only one speech recorded by Honi during a debate on when to schedule a May Day strike.
- Satvik Sharma (Liberal)
Sharma is a Commerce/Law student and has a long history in student politics. He served as an SRC Councillor and Environment Officer in 2023. He ran for election again at the end of last year but was disqualified for alleged forgery. Sharma denied the allegations at the time but did not appeal the disqualification.
He has also served on the Business School Faculty Board and Academic Board.
More recently, he ran for local council in Strathfield for the Liberals but missed out on election. He was one of the few to speak against the motions at the Student General Meeting for Palestine that took place on campus in August.
- Angus O’Grady
O’Grady is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science student who also works as a tutor for the University. They are currently the Treasurer of the Sydney Computing Society. They have not run for student office before or represented students on any committees.
