U of T’s Governing Council declares student-seat winners
UTM’s Albert Pan and UTSC’s Rishi Shah make the tough cut for the Council’s two undergraduate positions.
On February 21, the University of Toronto (U of T) Office of the Governing Council announced the winners of the 2025 Governing Council elections. The Council, a key part of U of T’s governance structure, is a senior governing body responsible for overseeing the University’s academic, business, and student affairs.
The council comprises internal members of the university, such as teaching staff and students, as well as external members, such as alumni. Eight seats of the council are reserved for students, who must be elected.
The winners of the two seats of Constituency 1, which is composed of all full-time undergraduates in the St. George campus’ Faculty of Arts and Science and U of T’s Mississauga (UTM) and Scarborough campuses (UTSC), are Albert (Zhonghen) Pan, with a vote count of 449 votes, and Rishi Shah, with a vote count of 551, who both successfully ran against 38 other candidates from all three campuses.
Meeting the incoming Constituency 1 representatives
In an interview with The Medium, both winners spoke about their efforts and plans before and after the Governing Council election and campaigning period.
Albert Pan is currently in his second year, studying for a major in biology for health sciences, and minors in education studies and English. During his campaign, he said he was “all about putting students first.” He is planning on advocating for U of T to put more money towards student initiatives and looks forward to bringing a voice representing UTM to the Governing Council.
“I was very, very pleased when I saw how many candidates there were for this year’s election,” Pan revealed. “Very often, the majority of students are apathetic towards such initiatives, seeing how the voter turnout for previous Governing Council elections [were] extremely low.” Pan also noted that an increase in student candidates is “a great sign for a student body that is becoming more and more engaged with their greater U of T community.”
Rishi Shah echoed Pan’s regard for student participation in governance. “Student participation in governance isn’t optional—it’s essential,” he said. Shah argued that student perspectives are not considered enough and that “if students don’t step up, don’t vote, and don’t demand better, then we stay stuck in the cycle of inefficiency, outdated policies, and student concerns being treated as an afterthought.”
Shah is in his fourth year studying management at UTSC. Among other things, he is planning on advocating for fixing U of T’s slow systems, particularly in regard to club approval, course enrollment, and admin responses, and implementing better mental health and accessibility supports for students.
Shah also plans on pushing for what he calls “The Lost Potential Policy,” a one-time free course retake for students whose performance in that course was impacted by circumstances outside their control, such as medical emergencies or personal crises.
When asked about what challenges they faced during their campaign, both Pan and Shah cited balancing academics with campaign efforts. Shah stated that campaigning day and night, especially during midterm season, is challenging. “I kept going because I believed in what I was fighting for,” he stated.
Pan was granted extensions and other accommodations by some of his professors, and while his workload was still heavy, “even having some [professors] be understanding was enough to lighten my workload to a level that was manageable.” Shah said that standing out among other candidates, along with skepticism and pushback from other students also posed challenges.
For both candidates, a motivating factor was what they considered a disconnect between students and U of T’s administration. “I noticed that while the administration always means well, there are some things that students do not need or want,” said Pan. “I felt that I could bridge the gap and help the administration work with students towards a solution that works better.”
Additionally, Shah argued that students often “accept the system instead of challenging it” and that he refuses “to let students feel powerless in their own university.”
Shah spoke of students who have “fallen through the cracks” due to personal, political, and education-related struggles. When asked why he ran for the Governing Council, he answered, “Because I knew that if I could push even one of these issues forward, it would make a difference. And that was worth fighting for.”
Pan hopes to work with the university’s financial staff to “remove inefficiencies and misallocated resources” and direct them to students. He argues for investments into “initiatives that will benefit students altogether,” and also aims to foster a more connected U of T community.
