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Arlington is originally from Barranquilla, Colombia. After being displaced at age three, he became a political refugee and entered Canada via Montreal as a protected person at the age of five. He moved again to northeast Calgary a few years later. Growing up, Arlington loved making others laugh. He also enjoyed anime, playing street fútbol, and baking bread at his parents’ family business.

In 2021, as a first-time volunteer with the Falconridge-Castleridge Community Association, Arlington was elected Secretary and joined the Board of Directors. The association accessed a grant to install solar panels that reduced the operating cost down to zero, enhancing the quality of services offered by the community centre. Later that year, Arlington also volunteered as a project manager to build a fit park dedicated to an underfunded and underdeveloped part of the city.

Arlington’s journey so far has taught him to be proud of overcoming setbacks, and what it means to make important improvements to structures of power in his local community. He is passionate about breaking down barriers to entry when it comes to post-secondary education such as the cost of education, access to affordable housing and proper economic development conditions for students. He will be the first but certainly not the last member of his nuclear family to attend university and graduate with more than just a degree.

Arlington is in the Faculty of Arts, with majors in Political Science, Law and Society, and Sociology. Over his time as an undergraduate, he has been studying the possibility of an anticipatory post-work society.

Arlington loves to work out and go for long walks around the Bow River with his dog, a CattleJack named Astro-Juice (AJ for short). He aims to hike five times this summer and go for at least one winter hike. Arlington is big fan of Manchester City Fútbol, and can be also found at the library reading manga, geo-political economy and watching a wide variety of documentaries.

Ermia Rezaei-Afsah grew up in Tehran, Iran, and moved to Calgary when he was 10 years old. As a kid he loved trivia and geography, and was interested in world history and politics even as young as seven years old.

After serving last year as an SU Faculty of Arts Representative on the 80th SLC, Ermia was elected to VP Student Life. His passion for equity and accessibility is informed by his experience as an immigrant to Canada and by his experience as a student trying to navigate the university system to access resources. His practice in the latter turned him into an advocate to help others navigate the system as well. These experiences are what inspired him to run for VP Student Life.

He has previously worked at a farmer’s market and landscaping. He has been a part of clubs such as the History Students’ Association, Food Justice Now, Philosophia, and Students for Direct Action.

Ermia is majoring in History and Anthropology, with a minor in Latin American Studies. He is most interested in Middle Eastern and Latin American history and their intersections. His favourite subjects are culinary history and the history of food.

His interest in cooking stems from an interest in both learning about other cultures and carrying on his own. Ermia likes to learn recipes through learning about the context and politics behind the dish. Food is a great way to connect, and he loves to host and create space for people. His interest food in naturally led him to gardening, and includes different growing techniques, light woodworking, growing things on a budget, growing culturally important produce in very different climates, and more.

Ermia loves to cook complex and unique food and grows as many ingredients as he can. He knows how to ferment foods and make his own yogurt, cheese, fermented pickles, sauces, kombucha, among other things. He even knows how make vinegar from scratch. He also loves preserving produce by making jams, vinegar pickles, and Cheong-style preserves (Cheongs are Korean syrups made with zero-heat). His four food obsessions are tea, yogurt, olive oil, and vinegar. He’s also obsessed with pasta.

Mateusz Salmassi grew up in Los Angeles, California. He was a quiet and shy kid, spending a lot of his time reading classics such as Charles Dickens. Mateusz also played a lot of soccer, even dreaming of becoming a professional soccer player.

His first job was canvassing for Greenpeace; the role connected his passion for politics with an understanding of the power of face-to-face conversation. Mateusz went on to advocate for a public health care system for the state of California, and brought these political inclinations with him when he moved to Calgary.

While he was the founder and president of the Student’s for Direct Action (SDA) and president of the Faculty of Arts Students’ Association (FASA), Mateusz acted as a student liaison for student organizers and bookstore workers helping to defeat the proposed privatization of the UCalgary bookstore. He also worked for the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation and was a Canada Food Guide Ambassador for Meal Exchange, where he worked on on-campus food insecurity.

Mateusz decided to run for the SU VP External when he realized that the most effective way to make the changes he wanted to see made was to enact them himself, and the SU was the perfect vehicle for enacting these changes. His experiences dealing with the restrictions placed on international students and with rent and food insecurity further fuelled his passion for change. In addition to these issues, Mateusz is also passionate about creating more democratic culture at universities, empowering students with the tools to exercise their political power within the university and the government. Student apathy is actually student hopelessness, and hopelessness can be overcome.

Mateusz is studying Psychology under the Faculty of Arts, completing a certificate in Sustainability Studies. He has aspirations to complete a Masters in Social Work. While he originally wanted to become a counselling therapist, the love he developed for advocacy and grassroots organizing has pushed him towards a path where he can pursue both. That being said, he is open to following the journey of life, which often takes us on unpredictable paths.

In his free time, Mateusz likes to garden. He also likes to spend time together with friends and family. When he goes back to visit Los Angeles, Mateusz loves to go out, enjoy Mexican and Persian cuisine, and dance. His favourite sports team is the soccer team FC Barcelona, and he can juggle a soccer ball an infinite number of times.