The results of the university election: The Student Council retains its two seats on the AU Board

Disclaimer: This text was translated using machine translation / AI and post-edited by Maria Nielsen Pedersen

Updated 20.11.24 with comments from Pro-rector Berit Eika

The Student Council continues to hold a firm grip on the two board positions reserved for students on the Aarhus University Board. From February 2025, medical student Jens Vase and molecular medicine student Anastasia Christensen will represent the students in the university's highest authority. They will replace Thea Bonnemann and Sofie Hillgaard Pedersen, who were also nominated by the Student Council.  

Shortly after the election results were announced, Jens Vase expressed his excitement about representing the students' interests in his upcoming role on the AU board.

“Election week was a democratic celebration – but the real involvement and true democracy start now. For me, it's not about my personal opinions as Jens Vase. It’s about representing the students and ensuring that we, as students, organise and engage ourselves.”

Jens Vase encourages his fellow students to provide input to him and the Student Council.

“I urge everyone to attend the Student Council's general meetings. Here, all students can propose policy. If that feels too distant, you can contact the degree programme council for your specific degree programme. As board members, we do our best to gather input through these councils.”

One of Jens Vase's key points during the campaign was that students shouldn’t just be an afterthought – meaning a group that is only involved once decisions have already been made.     

“We shouldn't be included just for show and late in the process; we need to insist on being involved early in decision-making. We are just as important as any other academic group at the university.”  

Anastasia Christensen is also thrilled to have been elected to the AU board. Like Jens Vase, she emphasises that her role on the board will be to represent the students' interests.

“It's not about voicing my personal opinion, but about communicating students' interests. In order to do that, I am active in the Student Council and in dialogue with the local degree programme councils.”

KS (Conservative Students, ed.): A good election despite defeat

In addition to the Student Council, Conservative Students also nominated candidates for this year's board election. Despite seeing both seats go to the Student Council again this year, Max Manøe Bjerregaard, the chairman and lead candidate for the board, is pleased with the election results.  

“We have increased our vote share. In the last board election in 2022, we received 10.4 percent of the votes; this year, we got 18.6 percent. And we secured two seats in the Department of Theology Board of Studies, which is a huge victory. While there's still a way to go to catch up with the Student Council, we're putting pressure on them. I hope Frit Forum will have even stronger representation in the next election, so that we can challenge the Student Council together."

Low voter turnout and cancelled elections

Despite competing for seats in the university election, both Conservative Students and the Student Council have expressed that there has been a good spirit between the two student organisations during the campaign. Despite their political differences, they share a common goal of increasing awareness about the university election. Both Max Manøe Bjerregaard and Daniel Hjort from the Student Council's executive committee are disappointed by the low overall voter turnout and the many cancelled elections, which both indicate low student engagement. 14 elections were cancelled in this year's election due to a lack of candidates.

The overall voter turnout for this year’s election was 18.24 percent, which is lower than in 2022, when students last voted for board representatives. In 2022, the turnout was 18.47 percent.  

Both organisations agree that there's not much more they can do with their volunteer resources and call for more help from the university to increase voter turnout. Daniel Hjort acknowledges that the university is already doing quite a bit, but he points out that there are still specific measures that could help make the election more visible to students.

“Specifically, there are challenges with getting permission to set up election booths in the canteens around campus,” explains Daniel Hjort. Max Manøe Bjerregaard adds:

“I agree. It would be great if the election committee or the administration could reach out to the canteens ahead of the election to inform them about the university election and ensure that student organisations are allowed to set up election booths.”

The university needs to step up

Additionally, they emphasise that the university should provide more information about what the university election is about and which bodies the representatives are being elected to. And it shouldn't just be through banners, info displays, and roll-ups – the information needs to reach the local degree programmes directly.  

“We spend a lot of time explaining the election to students before we can even discuss what we, as candidates, stand for,” says Max Manøe Bjerregaard.

Newly elected Anastasia Christensen agrees:

“It's really unfortunate that the voter turnout is so low. The students have put in a lot of effort to promote the election, but there isn't much drive from the university's side.”

She suggests that the university should encourage lecturers to remind students about the election at the end of each class during election week.

“Some of my lecturers concluded by reminding us about the election. It would be great if all of them did. The information needs to be very local and close to each student. They need to explain what the election is about and what students can vote for. What are the boards of studies and academic councils?" she says.

The university states that, prior to the university election, election materials were sent to all directors of studies, including PowerPoint slides about the election. Lecturers can choose to use these slides during classes and lectures to help raise awareness about the election. 

Daniel Hjort mentions that there is already an ongoing dialogue with the university's administration to ensure better information is provided to students about the election in future university elections. And his impression of that dialogue is positive.

Pro-rector: Shares the disappointment over low voter turnout

In an email to Omnibus, Pro-rector Berit Eika expresses her disappointment that the voter turnout for this year’s university election wasn’t higher.

“We would have liked it to be much higher. That’s why we support the election every year with information across various university channels and send two emails about the election to all students on their AU email. Additionally, we encourage lecturers to mention the election during their lectures.” 

Berit Eika continues:

“Clearly, it doesn’t make much of a difference. Unfortunately. It has proven difficult to mobilise higher voter turnout. That's why I greatly appreciate the dialogue we have with the student organisations about making the election more relevant and engaging for the students. Regarding the election booths, I would like to hear more from the students. We are eager to find better solutions.”