Incoming UTMSU execs outline priorities and plans for their term
New executive team points to connection, affordability, and academic advocacy.
The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) Students’ Union (UTMSU)’s Spring 2026 election invited undergraduate students to vote for a new Executive Committee for one-year terms. After a two-day voting period, the five IgniteUTM candidates emerged victorious, including Adam El-Falou for president, Xingyi (Freya) Gao for Vice President (VP) Internal, Tiffany Da Silva for VP Equity, Dana Al-Habash for VP University Affairs, and incumbent Rajas Dhamija for VP External.
In an email interview with The Medium, members of the winning executive team said one of the most urgent issues facing UTM students is a “growing sense of disconnection and isolation within the campus community,” arguing that campus life can often feel fragmented and lacking in shared experiences.
They said they hope to address this problem through broader campus-wide initiatives, increased collaboration between student groups, and efforts to build a stronger sense of campus identity. Rather than defining student life narrowly, the team said it wants to create more spaces where students can feel “part of something larger.”
The team also pointed to a mix of immediate and longer-term campaign commitments.
In the short term, they explained that students could expect efforts around expanding Free Dinner Fridays, increasing access to food vouchers, strengthening club collaboration through a clubs coalition, and opening conversations with the registrar and Student Housing on academic and housing concerns. Larger issues, including OSAP reform, tuition concerns, transit improvements, and exam deferral fees, were described as longer-term advocacy goals that would require pressure on the university, the province, and municipal partners.
When asked which student concerns have been most overlooked, the winning team emphasized academic pressure, particularly when setbacks carry long-term academic consequences. They pointed specifically to the Second Attempt for Credit policy, saying they want to see more support for students recovering from failed courses so that “one academic moment” does not define the rest of a student’s degree. They also highlighted post-graduation support as an area needing more attention, including stronger collaboration with the Career Centre to help graduating students and recent alumni access jobs, internships, and career preparation resources.
On working across portfolios, the incoming UTMSU team said its success will depend on “transparent and constant communication,” regular check-ins, and collaboration across overlapping student issues. It added that the diversity of the executive team could help broaden outreach to different student communities and campus partners.
The team also acknowledged that many students feel disconnected from the UTMSU or are unsure whether student elections matter. In response, the winners said leadership must become more visible and more tangible in students’ daily lives, whether through affordability measures, academic support, or campus spaces that better reflect the student body. “If you don’t feel the impact, then we’re not doing our job,” the UTMSU team shared.
Asked about previous UTMSU leadership teams, the new team said earlier executives had built meaningful services, events, and supports, but argued that more work is needed to make those efforts more visible and accessible to students. For them, the priority now is not only to build on that foundation, but to ensure more students actually feel connected to the union and its work in their day-to-day campus experience.
