Hanwell cites mental and physical health as reasons for last-minute dropout from presidential race

Dylan Hanwell cited mental and physical health as reasons for his sudden withdrawal from the 2016 Students’ Union presidential race.

Hanwell notified SU Chief Returning Officer Jessica Nguyen of his withdrawal on Friday, March 4, the same day as the SU executive committee results announcement at Dinwoodie Lounge. Ngyuen told the stunned Dinwoodie audience of Hanwell’s resignation from the race mere moments before announcing the winner.

“Last year has been incredibly taxing on me,” Hanwell wrote in a Facebook post, published on Saturday evening. “After the two week campaign I realized that I would be jeopardizing my health if I continued to stay at the SU for another 14 months. I realized at the last minute that I couldn’t make a commitment to the position that I wanted to.”

The highly competitive 2016 presidential race saw Hanwell, the current SU VP (External), face off against his close friends and co-workers Cody Bondarchuk, VP (Operations and Finance), and Fahim Rahman, VP (Academic). After Hanwell dropped out, the votes in the race were redistributed, with Rahman emerging as the 2016-17 SU president-elect with 51 per cent of the undergraduate student vote.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision for me to make and it is something I have not been able to talk about with many people,” Hanwell said. “I couldn’t do it anymore and decided that I had hit my max and that it was time to take a step back.”

He went on to say that he plans on finishing his term as VP (Ex), which runs until April 30 of this year, and “refocus his time and energy on myself.” His plan following his term is to finish his political science degree abroad and apply to law school.

“Thank you for all your concern and support,” Hanwell said in closing. “The Students’ Union is in more than capable hands with Fahim Rahman and the rest of the new executive.

“Students have made great choices this year and I’ll be cheering from the sidelines for them.”

More to come.