Megan reflects on her year as SU President

Thursday 19-07-2018 - 09:59
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So this is it, I’m finally leaving Durham today after five of the quickest, most ridiculous, brilliant, stressful, rewarding, busy and completely bizarre years of my life, and like my fellow Officers have already done, it’s my turn to reflect on my year at Durham SU.

I still can’t quite believe this year is over. I think it’ll hit me as I drive away from Durham, past the Maccies at Durham services for the last time, and I’ll probably cry all the way down the A1 back to Yorkshire. It’s been brilliant.

I’ve worked with some incredible students, staff, and fellow student leaders, all of whom have done their best to make Durham a better place to be a student and I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve had.

So what have I achieved? A lot that I’m proud of, but two things really stand out for me. Firstly, I set out to make Durham more affordable for lower income students, and as a result of my lobbying, from autumn 2019 the University will offer tiered bursaries. This means that there will no longer be huge cliff-edges in the amount of support people get, removing the all-or-nothing approach of current financial support. There will instead be a smooth curve that will help more students access more appropriate support, including supporting those with a slightly higher household income. Such students often end up worse off financially, as they get little support from the government or University (think two parents with decent jobs, but three kids at Uni to support and a mortgage to pay).Megan leads student protesters with a megaphone in front of a large banner that reads #RIPPEDOFF

Secondly, I’m proud that I called out flaws in the culture of this University when it comes to sexism, and respect for student reps. I wrote a separate article on this so I won’t go on about it, but I hope it makes a real difference, so that students, staff, and others in our University community can be respected and can get their jobs done while being treated in the way they deserve.

Other wins include setting up a residential for the incoming JCR Presidents to help them be better student representatives for their common room members; passing the Student Consultation Framework; delivering a strong argument against rising accommodation fees (don’t get excited); creating a new brand and strategy with input from a load of students; navigating the UCU strikes as best I could; delivering a speech on student mental health in front of 900 people at NUS National Conference; showing BBC Look North the mould in Dunelm House; challenging the University to provide real value for money for students; and of course, starting a campaign called College McCollegeface. In between all those things, there have been other wins and losses that just come as part of the role. Naturally I have spent a lot of time fire-fighting (*cough* 8am lecture fandango *cough*), which means that I haven’t achieved some of the things I had hoped to, but also means that I’ve done things that I never expected to, which is pretty cool.  

Megan speaks from a podium at NUS ConferenceI don’t think it’d be right to look back on all this without saying a huge thank you to all the people who made it possible, so here goes. I’ll start with the SU staff because they work their socks off behind the scenes and have held me up through the entire year, whether that’s been through helping me write papers, providing me with guidance and advice, helping me develop my ideas, writing articles about what we’ve been up to, creating graphics for campaigns, running the bar and café, or helping student groups out with anything and everything. They have even woken me up when I’ve fallen asleep with my face in my senate papers (just the once, thank you Kirsty). Also, a thank you to every student who’s ever emailed with a question or idea, no matter how out-there it was; the SU is here for you and that is the whole point. Thank you to the University staff that made my life easier rather than more difficult. There are many, but my special shout outs go to Jennifer Sewel, University Secretary, who is a brilliant woman, and Prof Mike Bentley, who not only taught me as an undergrad but has been extremely supportive during my time in this role. Also, the hugest thank you to Prof Elizabeth Archibald and everyone at Cuth’s; I wouldn’t have got here without you and I wouldn’t have dealt with this year half as well if I hadn’t been able to go home to Cuth’s whenever I wanted to: I will be back! And obviously a huge thank you to my fellow Officers: Sabrina, Rosa, Charlie, you’ve beMegan speaks in front of a banner with the new Durham SU branding in the town hallen cracking.

There are several people, including my wonderful housemates, I wouldn’t have made it through this year without and I think they deserve a special mention. The first is Gary Hughes. Gary is the Chief Exec at Durham SU and most of you will probably never meet him, but he has turned this SU around. We have a shiny new strategy and proper direction behind us now, and it’s only gonna get better. Gary is probably the only person I’ve met who can match my brutal honesty and if we didn’t get on like we do, I imagine we’d have killed each other. Thanks Gary, you’re the best.

Secondly, I have to mention Charlie Walker. Not only is Charlie a fellow Officer, but he’s one of my closest friends and has been there through every rant, meltdown, and therapy-gin. I can’t believe I didn’t know you before this year Charlie and I am much better off for having worked with you and gaining you as a friend.

Megan and Charlie hug at Annual Awards in front of Students' Union presentationLastly, there’s my little sis. For those of you that don’t know, my sister is a student at Durham (she applied before I ran for JCR President at Cuth’s and then I stuck around for a surprise sabbatical year… and then another one). She doesn’t get many perks out of having the SU President as a sibling, quite the opposite actually. But despite this she absolutely always has my back and has been there throughout it all, helping me more than she’s realised. Cheers Em, love ya.

I’ll finish just by saying thank you for giving me the opportunity to be the President of Durham SU. I’ve learned a lot, caused a lot of trouble, and had a lot of fun, and I’m so grateful. I wish George, Meg, Saul, David and Charlie the best of luck for their time as Officers next year; you’re going to be brilliant.

Cheers for everything Durham, it’s been the best, see you soon!

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megan, Megan's reflections, 2017-18, Reflections,

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