The Office of Student Affairs (SAO) at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) held the annual Student Union (SU) Elections for the Academic Year 2023–2024 on Thursday, October 19, 2023, with the support of the Elections Committee, administration, and staff. Holding the student elections is pivotal in emphasizing NDU’s dedication to democracy, fair competition, and open dialogue. The sentiment was reflected by the students, who gathered to exercise their voting right, selecting the representatives that they believed would effectively communicate their needs and demands to the University administration.
The SU Elections began at 8:00 a.m. and sought to fill 30 seats with different electoral programs covering the seven Faculties. The Election Committee supervised the ongoing electoral process, ensuring that no infractions were overlooked. The SU election procedure differed between larger Faculties (i.e., those with more than 300 students) and smaller ones (i.e., with fewer than 300 students), with the former adopting the majority voting system, and the latter using the one-man, one-vote method.
NDU President Fr. Bechara Khoury emphasized the importance of the SU, addressing the students: “The first dimension of the elections is the educational aspect, as this process contributes to developing the students’ democratic and community participation skills.” He continued to comment on the second dimension, which “the importance of strengthening and practicing the concepts of democracy, as well as peaceful participation in decision-making.”
Dr. Charbel Zgheib, Dean of Students, echoed the Father President’s words, observing: “These elections enhance the development of leadership skills and critical thinking among students.” Zgheib further noted, “Young people are the future of the nation; participation in the electoral process gives them a role in shaping their future and making their voice heard to the University administration.”
The voting ended at 4:00 p.m., and the vote sorting was done in the presence and supervision of the Elections Committee and the candidates.
Here is the NDU Student Union for the Academic Year 2023–2024:
Ramez G. Chagoury Faculty of Architecture, Arts and Design (FAAD)
Charbel Nicholas
Elia Bou Samra
Pamela Saliba
Faculty of Business Administration and Economics (FBAE)
Samih Farhat
Pio Beainy
Marven Zaarour
Clara Ghorayeb
Anthony Nassour
Nour Hadchiti
Joseph Kreidy
Andrea Ziadeh
Philip Saliba
Faculty of Engineering (FE)
Roudy Dib
Antoine Honein
Joe Saadeh
Joey Abi Rizk
John Dagher
Faculty of Humanities (FH)
Antoinette Sassine
Perla Abi Najem
Viviane Laba
Charbel Raffoul
Francois Turk
Faculty of Law and Political Science (FLPS)
Christa Maria Chamoun
Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences (FNAS)
Charbel Challah
Tarek Jalkh
Elie Badr
Ghiya Beaino
Michelle Whaibe
Charbel El Achkar
Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences (FNHS)
Taline Sleiman
Congratulations to the new representatives! May it be a productive year for the student body.