Team JEA voted next AMS executive

‘Democracy has spoke,’ says incoming AMS president after 20.4 per cent voter turnout

Image by: Nelson Chen
The results were announced on Jan. 31.

With a 20.4 per cent voter turnout, undergraduate students have elected their next AMS executive. 

In the AMS’s first de-slated election decided by the student body at large, Team JEA has been formed with Jana Amer, HealthSci ’26, leading the charge as the Society’s next president. Elena Nurzynski, ArtSci ’25, will be the next vice-president (operations), and Alyssa Perisa, ArtSci ’25, will serve as the vice-president (university affairs).

Voting closed at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 30 and candidates were notified shortly after 11 a.m. on Jan. 31 by AMS Chief Returning Officer Andrew Anderson. 

Of the total 4,157 voters, 1,572 voted for Amer, 995 voted for her opponent Nicolas Brasset Duque, ArtSci ’25, and 151 voted for “none of the above.” Perisa secured the role of VPUA earning 1,563 votes and opponent Dreyden George, ArtSci ’26, getting 799 votes. Nurzynski ran uncontested for the VPO position, winning the vote of confidence with 2,081 votes in favour and 197 votes against. 

Unlike her two teammates who received a call with the results, Amer was at LaSalle, AMS headquarters, when she received the good news. 

“I was, funnily enough, right here in LaSalle […] I was asked [by the elections team] if I could come into the room. It was very overwhelming, I was trying to stand in the corner. I didn’t want to hear but they let me know, and honestly, I thought I was going to start crying,” President-elect Amer said in an interview with The Journal

Amer immediately called her mom, sisters, and best friend to share her excitement. “I was so stoked by myself and happy democracy spoke,” Amer said. “I’m excited to see where this takes us, and was also really delighted to hear Elena and Alyssa had also gotten their news at that point.”

This upcoming year, Nurzynski is looking forward to connecting with the student body and putting the executive team out there to boost student engagement.

“I think it’s really special that it’s an all women team,” Nurzynski said in an interview with The Journal.

Perisa is full of excitement for the coming year and ready to work alongside her new teammates. 

“My fellow candidate, Dreyden George, was an impressive candidate with valuable experience. I’ll definitely be reaching out to hear his ideas and perspectives,” Perisa told The Journal.  “I’m sitting beside two amazing women, and I know together we’re going to accomplish some amazing things.”

Outgoing AMS President Owen Rocchi is looking forward to starting the transition period and for Team JEA to start hiring their senior and assistant management team.

“It’s been a very exciting week,” Rocchi said in an interview with The Journal. “I couldn’t be prouder of the team that’s elected.”

“I just want to recognize all the hard work that’s going on in the Internal Affairs Office, the election team, and everybody who supports them for all the hard work that’s gone on over the last few weeks to administer, market, promote, engage with the election,” Rocchi said.

The winter referendum results saw new optional student activity fees passing to support the Ban Righ Mature Student Bursary Fund, QHacks, Queen’s Muslim Student Association, and the Iranian Association of Queen’s.

The mandatory student activity fee increase for The Queen’s Journal failed alongside CFRC 101.9 FM which is subject to individual opt out. All 16 student activity fees up for triennial review passed. 

In a plebiscite—a direct vote on a key issue—94.7 per cent of students supported continuing the Bus-it Program, which the City recently proposed nearly doubling the bus fee from $122 to $240 in talks with the AMS and Society of Graduate and Professional Students.

Tags

AMS, AMS elections, de-slating elections, Elections 2025, Team JEA

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content