Here are questions for the candidate running for the position of Black & Minority Ethnic Students Officer: 

 

1. Which issues would be your priority as BME Officer?

In crisis times, deep rooted inequalities are intensified. My priority is ensuring no student is left behind.

My priorities are: education, collective care, accountability for the union and university, and opportunity.

  1. Education (e.g. fighting for a quality accessible decolonised education)
  2. Collective care (e.g. tailored and quality welfare and pastoral care & establishing peer support / advocacy networks)
  3. Accountability (e.g. pressure for transparency on UCL to end racism and inequality & campaigning to end the BME Awarding Gap)
  4. Opportunities (e.g. end the broken pipeline between UG and PG & opening up the university to the local community)

2. How will you engage with and represent BME students at UCL

I plan to re-energise the BME Network social media platforms and newsletter to make sure that students are engaged and informed digitally. While continuing the work to make the Unions and UCL’s communication more inclusive.

I will also keep posting my accountability reports on my Officer page and transition to make these into video updates for better transparency and engagement.

More in-person events like student forums, workshops and lectures will give students a chance to express their concerns, learn more and get involve in the BME Network.

In addition, I will keep, extend and widely publicise my ‘office hours’.

3. How do you plan to create opportunities for BME students?

This year, lots of staff, businesses, organisations reach out to me about opportunities at UCL but at the moment, there is no clear reliable place to display or share these opportunities share and create opportunities. I will create a resource and opportunity hub for BME students. Students and societies must know the BME Network is here to support their ideas and events.

Many societies already run widening participation programs. I want to expand this and ensure students have the support they need.

I want to start a BME students’ newspaper!

For this to succeed, they will need to be student-led.

4. How will you improve the political education and accountability of the Union and university? 

With political education, I will create a monthly reading group, a series of workshops and lectures from activists, academics and community leaders. I want to make sure these things are run collaboratively with societies, student groups, etc.

Transparency from officers and the university is key to accountability. If elected, I will:

  • Create a student-led accountability tool for departments that reports annually
  • Use campaigning to raise the profile of issues facing students
  • Create more opportunities where BME students are consulted on the issues they face so I can present them to UCL

5. What will you do to support the work of the Disabled Students' Network, who recently released a highly publicized report detailing institutionalized disability discrimination at UCL?

As a disabled student, this issue is close to my heart. This year, I’ve been working closely with the Disabled Students Network (DSN) this year to push the university to take urgent action and I will continue this work through regular meetings for strategising, offloading and advice. This will become particularly important in the coming year.

I will also continue to work to improve how the union supports the DSN through creating a collaborative Liberation strategy, where ALL officers receive better support and liberation issues are central to the work of the union.

Last updated 4 years ago Read time 2 mins