Meet Brendan Roberts, One of Two Students' Union Presidential Candidates

With the election coming up tomorrow, it is time to highlight the other presidential candidate running to be re-elected as the Students’ Union president, Brendan Roberts. Brendan is from Calgary, Alberta, but he has also lived in Halifax, and his parents are from Nova Scotia. He says that it is actually a big reason why he chose StFX, as to him, it is a “home away from home.” Brendan, a proud Burke Brawler from Bishops, is in his third year of Public Policy and Governance but started in the business program. When asked what his favorite event at StFX was, he said, “well there are too many to choose from! From X-Ring to House Hockey, there are so many events that represent the uniqueness of our university experience and the Xaverian spirit.” After StFX Brendan hopes to further explore careers in the non-profit sector and continue work to ensure everyone who wants has access to affordable post-secondary education.

Brendan first spoke about his involvement at StFX, saying it all started in his first year. He explained, “In first year, I was elected as First Year Rep on the Council. In this position, I strongly advocated for first years in regards of COVID policy and was involved in the early discussions surrounding the Golden X Inn renovation. This led me to serve as the Vice President Finance and Operations during my second year. During this year, I was able to continue overseeing the renovation project and take on new projects such as moving Kevin’s Corner to a more accessible location and opening a convenience store in the SUB. Now, I currently serve as the President of the Students’ Union and have had the opportunity to learn more from the student body than I thought was possible over the past few months.” In addition to his involvement in the Students’ Union he has been involved in several societies and groups on- and off-campus. Mr. Roberts said he has been involved “with different business societies on campus and was even selected as the Schwartz JDCC All-Star debater at last year's competition. In addition, I’ve also begun volunteering with a local non-profit organization called the Antigonish Affordable Housing Society, where I was recently appointed to their Governance committee.” He added that he “absolutely loves meeting new people and learning new things at different events and activities both on-campus and in the community.” 

When asked why he would like to be re-elected as the Students’ Union President, Brendan answered, “students come to university to learn and experience new things, and in doing so they expect (rightfully so) that they are going to be included and engaged. The reason that I ran for President last year and am running again this year is because I want to make sure that every single student who comes to StFX feel as included, supported, and engaged as possible. This is work that I think I have been able to make some good headway on over the past year and would love the opportunity to continue it over the course of the next year.” He continued by speaking about his platform and some of its highlights, stating, “a big reason why one of my platform pillars is engagement is because I think that over the past few years, especially since Covid, a lot of students are feeling isolated in the StFX community. This has had such an impact on our community, especially the Students’ Union where all of our programs, events, and advocacy relies on student engagement. StFX has a unique reputation of being a very close-knit collective of students and I want to continue to restore this part of our community tradition. By fostering more engagement with ALL students, we can have more constructive and open conversations about issues that are important to the student body and ways that we can address them.” He wanted to reiterate, “I am running on a platform of Inclusivity, Advocacy, and Engagement. To specifically touch on the inclusivity pillar, this is where a lot of the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility work that I hope to do is based. Whether it’s making an even bigger effort to engage and collaborate with the DEC, exploring the possibility of creating an EDI Coordinator position at the U, or ensuring that anyone who wants to work at the Union can, by raising the pay of different positions.”

Mr. Roberts ended by saying, “I am committed to ensuring that every student at StFX has the incredible experience that they were expecting. I want every student who comes here to know that from the second they step foot on our campus, they have a home in the Students’ Union, and we will do everything we can to support you. With that said there are so many projects that I think will foster this community that I hope I can accomplish this year including the Inn Renovation, and the Governance Review projects, just to name a few.” He also included that he is committed to being transparent about the work he does, that he wants to foster an environment where every student knows that their voice matters, and added that “if there is something that is important to you that you haven’t seen on my platform, don’t hesitate to reach out either over Instagram or email and I would love to talk about how we can address your concern, vote Brendan Roberts from Jan 25-27.” 

The polls open tomorrow, so don’t forget to cast your vote and check out our profiles on all the candidates running this year for your next Students’ Union President and Vice President Academic.