Humber voters hit the polls for IGNITE’s annual election

Mar 9, 2023 | Campus News, News

The deadline to vote for the next Ignite student council is fast approaching, as candidates await the results expected after polls close on Friday.

So far there’s been a turnout of over 5,000 voters, according to IGNITE’s Board Administrator Lionel Campbell.

“This is a way for students to select a candidate who may share your values, who have the experience to advocate on your behalf and simply want to help their peers.”

Voting can be done online through an email Ignite sent out to every Humber student, or at polling stations across both campuses including at the North in the main foyer of the LRC, the Tech Zone in front of the Humber Bookstore, The first floor of Guelph-Humber, and many more booths across campus.

Ignite advocates for tens of thousands of students with the goal of aiding and delivering the best possible campus experience. Ignite is considered the governing body of the students at Humber- responsible for creating the life and atmosphere of a college setting.

“Ignite represents the democracy of Humber and the student voice,” said Ignite Content Writer and Fourth year Guelph-Humber Journalism student Alex Ellison.

Candidates at the North campus include:

  • Shanell Roye
  • Swarnim Deshwal
  • Devang Parikh
  • Angad Handa, and
  • Karanveer Singh

Information about the five candidates can be found on IGNITE’s website where they encourage students to explore all the benefits and perks Ignite offers throughout the year including candidate meet and greets, campus events such as frosh week at the beginning of the school year, a similar event near the end of the school year for students to destress, health and wellness services (Dental, mental health, etc.,) career assistance, financial advice including a tax-paying seminar, a First Year Experience program, and much more.

Although a crucial element of the campus experience, most students Humber News interviewed on Wednesday said they were unaware of the elections, or IGNITE itself and what it does.

First year Civil engineering student Preasanth Sachchitham and First year Media Foundations student Jake Gibb only found out about Ignite and the candidates when they saw the election station in the LRC this week.

“I honestly just heard about the elections today when the representatives for Ignite approached me to vote, then I saw what each candidate was about and I voted,” said Sachchitham.

“But i’m not quite sure what Ignite is or what they do,” he added.

Many students such as First year Business student Alex Huang and First year SWAC student Jermauri Collins did in-fact receive the emails sent out, however, some students said the email was a scroll through, while one student said it went to their spam mail.

“I mainly know about Ignite because of their ignite wheel that they have throughout the semester,” said Huang.

“Other than that I’m just figuring out what they offer students.”

Posters caught the eye of students like First year Nursing student Breawnnah Guthrie, but a theme of unfamiliarity with ignite and those running in the election proved apparent amongst interviewees.

Despite that information, Campbell has noticed an increase in awareness and excitement towards the election period compared to past years.

“Even as a student i recall Ignite being very helpful, We’re active on social media, and you see that with the number of votes, with ambassadors across campus promoting events and giving out updates,” said Campbell.

“Many students say they feel the same way about Ignite but Of course, there’s always things to improve on and that’s why the student feedback is so important,” he said.