Remy the Rat — represented by third-year English honours student Esmé Decker — will be the head of the kitchen (and AMS) next year.
Remy/Decker beat out AMS VP Administration Ben Du and ChatGPT to replace incumbent Eshana Bhangu.
Their win comes after they ran as a joke candidate last year, ultimately ending in second place behind Bhangu in a crowded race for president. This year, Remy/Decker said they were running as a serious candidate.
Remy/Decker said they were feeling “pretty good” immediately after winning.
“I’m shocked! I’m honoured,” they added.
Remy/Decker ran on a platform of climate justice, food security and making the AMS a “student union again.”
“I’m going to be listening to students,” they said when asked what they would do first as president. “I’m so excited, oh my god.”
This is the first time since 2017 that a joke candidate or a non-AMS staff member has become president, when then-Engineering Undergraduate Society President Alan ‘The Cairn’ Ehrenholz won. Elections Administrator Max Holmes said this was the highest turnout the AMS had ever seen in a presidential election.
Remy/Decker’s term will start on May 1.