A no-vote campaign is urging graduate and professional students to rethink supporting the only candidate in the running to be the next Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) President.
With 24 hours until the SGPS executive election results are finalized, an anonymous no-vote campaign arose via the novotesgpspresident2025 Instagram account. The campaign questions the uncontested SGPS presidential candidate Dawood Tullah, Law ’26, and his ability to advocate for students’ rights amid ongoing budget cuts and a rise in transphobia and racism.
Novotesgpspresident2025 has posted three times since its creation on Jan. 29, with the latest post recounting the SGPS debate held over Zoom on Jan. 22, where Tullah emphasized his platform and priorities.
READ MORE: Eleven SGPS executive candidates debate ahead of election
To clarify the campaign’s concerns regarding the presidential candidate, Tullah, The Journal reached out to novotesgpspresident2025 for a comment but didn’t receive a response in time for publication.
In response to the campaign, The Journal ensured the accuracy of the questions asked during the debate, including those about his plans for representing equity-deserving groups on campus. The Journal also confirmed the questions raised and the responses given during the campaign throughout the recorded video on the SGPS website.
“If elected, my focus is going to be on strengthening our collective voice, ensuring financial and wellness support for SGPS members, and fostering a united, inclusive community. My commitment is to provide strong and effective representation, particularly in dealing with the administration and other stakeholders,” Tullah said during the debate.
When asked to elaborate on his approach to representation and his concrete plans to ensure equity for women, queer communities, Black, Indigenous, and other people of colour—especially in light of rising homophobia, transphobia, and racism, Tullah responded, “It’s up to them to, you know, raise awareness about their challenges.”
The account critiqued his response, questioning whether Tullah would be an advocate of students’ rights, and that he shouldn’t place the burden of advocacy on individuals from equity-deserving groups.
In a statement to The Journal, Tullah said his response during the debate was only part of his answer. He noted a follow-up question was presented in the chat during the debate, but since he wasn’t asked that follow up, he responded in the chat to clarify his position.
“I clarified when I said it’s up to individuals or student groups to inform us of their challenges, my meaning was that we cannot assume someone’s experience, for example, based on a blanket label of their identity,” Tullah said.
The account also took issue with Tullah’s response during the debate on how he plans to hold the University accountable when it comes to investing. “The question of what we can do to prevent the University from, you know, making certain investments or not making certain investments, in practice probably not much at the end of the day,” he said during the debate.
In his statement to The Journal, Tullah explained this comment was in response to a question about forcing the University to divest from certain investments, particularly relating to the war in Palestine. He said his point was, in practice, shifting University investments would likely have little impact—especially if it came at the expense of urgent student needs like housing, food security, and job stability.
“The emphasis here was implied to mean that we must be careful in how or when to approach an issue and prepare for which issues we need to take up with the University—and prioritize issues that impact student life (collectively) the most,” Tullah stated.
He believes his answers have been taken out of context and there’s a certain convenience in an anonymous party bringing these claims forward after the campaign period has ended.
“It’s sad and unfortunate for someone to resort to this measure without so much as attempting to engage in a dialogue with me or even learning who I was other than my role as a campaigner,” Tullah said.
SGPS executive candidate voting opened this morning on Simply Voting and closes tomorrow night, with results set to release at 9 a.m. on Jan. 31.
Tags
Elections 2025, No vote campaign, SGPS, SGPS executive
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