My Hustings Speech

This is not going to be a speech about all the things I have done this, or all things I would like to with another. 5 minutes is not enough time for that and you can quiz me about that later. This is a speech about what I believe and the future I see for our union.

I have been your SU President for almost a year now and it has been one heck of a learning curve. Central is full of incredible people, both staff and students, and I have really enjoyed representing you.

Unfortunately I have also realised how difficult it can be for us to have our voice heard.

 I sit in all the right meetings. You elect course reps to represent your views and opinions about your university and education. On the surface it looks great

But I have sat in meetings with staff members who have laughed at requests for microwaves because they think we have run out of serious things to ask for. Who have said that if a student takes issue with the way they are marked they can like it or leave. Who have told me that I can’t run a check in session with course reps to support them in their role of representing students because they are part of “Central Quality Assurance Processes” I left that meeting very confused because I was under the impression they were people

This year there have been a number of occasions where I have seen student voices be silenced, belittled and manipulated.

We saw how long it took to get any sort of response from management about Gavin’s expenses and even then it included outright lies and we still don’t really have a satisfactory answer.

As arts students we are facing a triple attack. Higher Education is being turned into a market and we consumers. The arts has been hacked and funding slashed. Efforts to oppose this have seen students threatened, bullied and even assaulted by the police on their own campuses. University management taking their students to court following protests is becoming a far too familiar scenario.

Our voice is under threat from so many different angles and we need to fight back.

If we want to be taken seriously we have to demand it. We will have to push harder. It won’t be over night. It will take perseverance and determination. It will take fine-tuning our democratic structures so we can make decisions easily and efficiently. It will take demonstrations and protests, whether that’s fighting for change on our campus or for free education on the streets. It will take me as your Student Union President.

I have started these fights this year but they are far from finished. I am far from finished. I have learned so much about the way Central works and so much about myself this year that I am more prepared than ever to take this on. I am backing myself to finish what I have started and I am asking  you to do the same.

Don’t Back Down, Back Nat