Three contenders are in the race for Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) President, a position that represents over 12,000 students.
Edlira Ballaj, Ivana Drinziu, and Leo Yang, all ArtSci ’26, discussed their platforms and visions with The Journal for ASUS, with common themes of enhancing the Arts and Science student experience. The ASUS President sits on AMS Assembly and represents all students in the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS).
Edlira Ballaj
As the current ASUS Senator and the Deputy Ademics Commissioner, Ballaj hopes to take her experiences and apply them to the role of ASUS President. Her platform focuses on adaptability, community engagement, and education, aiming to students through the modular degree framework transition, by hosting town halls and creating for students in large classes.
The Modular Degree framework will reduce the required credits needed to graduate with a BAH, BScH, and Bcmp.
READ MORE: Associate Dean Jenn Stephenson addresses Modular Degree Framework
“I want to try to work with [Stephenson] to create these open forum town halls that students can come to and ask any questions that [students would] like towards her, me, or anyone else who has a little bit more information on this transition than the average student on campus,” Ballaj said.
Ballaj, a student of political studies and life sciences, emphasized the importance of sharing the academic resources provided by ASUS’s Academics Commission to students in navigating their degree requirements. She highlighted the need to assist first-year students in transitioning to university life and managing their classes effectively.
“First-year was a little hard for me because I didn’t really know much about ASUS [and] trying to navigate first-year without knowing what s and resources I had available was a little difficult,” Ballaj said.
“As an Arts and Science student, I will be able to and advocate for all of [the students], and most importantly, understand the needs that [students] have.”
Ivana Drinziu
Drinziu is ASUS’s current services commissioner and was the deputy services commissioner last summer. Using these past experiences, her main goal is to develop a network of alumni who graduated from FAS. She plans to introduce a position dedicated to integrating alumni into the society, fostering connections and opportunities for FAS students.
“I feel like, compared to Commerce and Engineering, we don’t have an alumni basis that we can kind of reach out to,” Drinziu said.
She emphasized expanding opportunities through an alumni network could offset the costs of student living by providing more jobs to ease financial stress.
If elected, Drinziu, a philosophy and psychology student, wants to prioritize transparency and ability, ensuring she follows through on promises and is transparent about the society’s finances while limiting unnecessary spending.
“I’m holding myself able, just by really sitting down with myself and taking the time to look at projected costs and look at how can we save, look at my team and hold them able as well,” Drinziu said.
While leading with empathy is important to Drinziu, she said she’s equally committed to taking concrete steps to make students’ lives better. Through enhancing alumni networks, she hopes to provide more jobs to give students more fiscal flexibility.
“The main thing I’m focusing on is how can I expand access to benefit students in the long term, rather than just to give a shoulder to cry on.”
Leo Yang
Former Vice-Chair of the Student Senate Caucus, Yang aims to raise $3 million for ASUS next year through alumni and the local community.
Yang, a political studies, philosophy, and economics student, has a campaign focused on enhancing the student experience, and community building. He advocates for cross-faculty collaboration and aims to bridge divides between the faculty subsections—humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and language and culture—by fostering intra-faculty competition to strengthen the community.
“My goal is to make those [subfields] into the centre of ASUS which means I want to create almost an ArtSci Cup but as an entire year event,” Yang said.
He highlighted his variety of experiences at the University as an Intern in the Principal’s Office, Vice-President of the Queen’s International Affairs Association, and Outreach Co-ordinator for the Pre-Law Society. Yang believes these experiences, combined with the connections he’s made on Senate, Faculty Board, AMS Assembly, and in the Principal’s Office, makes him the best candidate for the role of ASUS President.
“My deep understanding of how our University operates and the relationships I’ve built through my past involvement and extensive consultations make me confident I can deliver real results for our community,” Yang said.
Corrections
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Yang was the current Vice-Chair of the Student Senate Caucus. He is the former Vice-Chair of the Student Senate Caucus.
The Journal regrets the error
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