2024 GISA Election Debate: Highlights from Day 2

By Vibhaa Sreedharan, News Editor of The Graduate Press

The 2024 GISA Election debates officially closed on April 30, concluding with the debates for the roles of Vice President of the Master’s Program and GISA President. 

Vice President of the Master’s program candidate advocates for change and inclusion 

The second day of the debate saw a sole candidate, Rami Alexandre Mottu, a first-year MINT student from the CPS track, vying for the Vice President of the Master’s Program role. At the beginning of the debate, he highlighted his multicultural background and the intentions behind his candidacy, including the drive to work on ensuring the academic experiences of students turn out the way they want them to. 

Rami placed specific emphasis on the need to decolonize the curriculum and promote diversity in the content of courses and suggested reforms to the MINT program, including fewer credits for the Global Issues and Perspectives class. He also voiced his intention to address the issues surrounding bilingualism on campus. 

When asked about his approach to ensuring that the administration releases course evaluations, he reiterated his awareness of the issues surrounding this aspect. He also hoped to carry the conversation forward with the administration. Additionally, importance was also placed on receiving at least some information about the course evaluations, albeit making some compromises by not receiving the entire set of evaluations.

Regarding the practical aspects of decolonizing the curriculum, he referred to the general perception as being about “having more classes about these issues”, when in reality, the focus should be about “integrating them, systematically and throughout” the courses. 

Some other aspects addressed during the questions included the lack of representation of disciplinary Master’s students in GISA; the option of having the opportunity to Fast Track PhD for all students, housing issues and the need for increased collaboration between PhD, Master’s students, the Vice President of Master’s Program and the Class Representatives. 

GISA President: Candidates advocate for Student Well-being and Inclusivity

The GISA Election debate concluded with an engaging debate for the role of GISA President involving the candidates: Jaafar Chaoui, first year MINT – Conflict, Peace & Security and Angello Leon, first Year MINT – Human Rights & Humanitarianism. 

Jaafar highlighted his previous experiences working on issues related to student well-being, including academics and housing. A proposal to have suggestion boxes where students can highlight their issues for the GISA Board was made. Some of the aspects that came up during the debate included decolonizing the curriculum, having more open forums for discussions, and advocating for PhD students.

Angello emphasized his previous experiences in helping those in need and starting the initiative along with volunteers for a virtual meet-up for students before the beginning of the program. Some of the aspects highlighted included the need to localise the curriculum and promote inclusivity and diversity inside and outside classrooms, among others. 

When asked about some concrete measures that they would take, Jaafar indicated the possibility of creating a repository for subletting through Excel sheets and helping incoming students with visa issues; while Angello referred to setting up a housing committee to address various issues and promoting diversity at the Institute. 

When asked about some of the biggest problems that they think should be tackled, Angello addressed the need to improve the overall life of students, housing issues and a place for events similar to the one organized for a conversation about Gaza. This was a reference to a student-led initiative as part of the compulsory Global Issues and Perspectives class, where class representatives from all 7 tracks in the MINT program represented their cohorts for a discussion titled “Discussion on Palestine: Water and Human Rights”. On the other hand, Jaafar emphasized that students may not feel safe talking sometimes and wanted to create a safe space for them and also drew reference to the event conducted as part of the Global Issues and Perspectives class.

An additional question that came up was the lack of participation by students in GISA’s affairs. Jaafar suggested more on-campus presence, and advertisements, while Angello suggested personally coordinating with the VP of the Master’s Program and class representatives to encourage participation. 

Voting is scheduled to commence on May 3rd, 2024, and we encourage all students to participate and cast their votes!