Student Candidate Spotlight: Liberation and Student Life Officers

Although the Spring Elections are vital for electing our Sabbatical Officers, it is also important because it gives us the opportunity to elect student volunteers to lead and enrich several areas of Union life. Here, we will be exploring some of the candidates of student leadership positions to give you an insight into who you want to vote for! This article will be focusing on students looking to be elected into positions such as Liberation Officers, who look to improve the student experience. 

LGBT+ Officer

Amam Azike

‘Hi my name is Amam but you can call me your friend (ba dum tss). I consider myself to be empathetic, hardworking, resilient and a bloody good time. I am a good listener and I’m not afraid to stand for what I believe in. I think you should vote for me because I intend to work for the community and put their interests and concerns first. I intend to work with SUSU to ensure that all decisions made are made with the LGBT+ community in mind. I promise to work to the best of my ability to ensure that your stay in uni is not only enjoyable but safe and free and that you’re living your best life. If you ever need advice, guidance (or anything really) I want you to feel free to reach out to me if you need someone to talk to. I want to serve my community in the best possible way I can and that’s why you should vote for me.’

Women’s Officer

Alfred Taylor

‘Hi I’m Alfie and you should vote me #1 for Women’s Officer (as opposed to RON) because I want to make our university safer than ever and work towards a fairer academia. I’m tired of hearing horror stories from my friends nights out and want to show that we all need to get involved in preventing sexual assault and fighting gender inequality.’

Disabilities Officer

Aimee Orchel

‘I’m running for Disabilities Officer because I’m disabled, and want to make a change for other students who have accessibility needs. I’m here for education, self-advocacy, and making the world a better place when it comes to mental health and physical disabilities that impact on student’s ability to study, whilst knocking down barriers about how disability is perceived in our community. Needing accessibility shouldn’t be a barrier to studying at university – hopefully, I can help nudge along changes to improve our experiences at university.’

Arden Chaplin

‘A key aim of mine is to continue to raising awareness of different types of disabilities by starting an open conversation about what it really means to be disabled. I want to further the work of the previous Disabilities Officer to make all elements of the Students’ Union accessible, to ensure there are no limitations to what can be achieved by any disabled student in their societies, sports or academics.’

International Officer

Victoria Cranshaw

‘I believe that I would make an excellent International Officer primarily because of my experience in representation, both with SUSU and with external organisations. I am currently the course rep for the Population and Geography cohort and a student ambassador for Across the Pond (https://www.studyacrossthepond.com/). I was also recently named a finalist for the UKCISA International Student Ambassador Programme and was invited to interview– my connections with organisations such as UKCISA and ATP give me alternative ways of relaying feedback from my fellow international students here at Southampton to other organisations in addition to the university and the Students’ Union.’

Kareem Hussein

‘Hi, I’m Kareem, a second year Computer Science student from Egypt. As a committee member of the Middle Eastern society as well as an international student myself, I know all about the many kinds of trouble which can be faced by international students. That is why I’m all about improving the support network currently in place for international students, especially considering the uncertainty surrounding the statuses of EU students after Brexit. I will work to expand VISAS team support, improve support for students renting outside university halls and increase the exposure of international student meetup events and international societies.’

Sustainability Officer

Rishi-Nayan Varodaria

‘I started in Halls and want to branch out from the sustainability perspective, ensuring that every action we take as a university is held to account and that we are as environmentally considerate as we can be in this critical time. I propose a reassessment of the recycling provision and the clarity of information that is provided, both on campuses and on sites, as well as holding a full review of all of our food outlets, considering that only the Plant Pot is where most of the focus has been. Safeguarding some of our green spaces and making sure students have a say in proposed university developments is also critical and I want to help get the voices of all our students heard.’

Charlotte Trewick

‘I believe community action is one of the best ways we can help reverse the effects of environmental damage and would love to get more involved in bringing the student community together to support sustainability issues both across the university campus and further afield.’

Voting opens at Wednesday 4th March, 9am and closes Friday 6th March, 4pm. You can vote at on-campus polling stations or online at the SUSU website.

The results will be announced the evening of Friday 6th March during Elections Night Live at The Bridge. If you aren’t there in person, be sure to follow Wessex Scene’s live coverage!

To see all the candidates and their manifestos, click here.

Editor’s Note: We endeavoured to contact all student leadership candidates to ensure fairness and equal representation. For those candidates who failed to respond, we quoted a small portion of their manifesto.