Candidate Profile
Tell us about yourself
Hi! I’m Dan. I’m from Durham and studied Sociology.
I am the current President of the SU, a responsibility and privilege I’ve enjoyed so much that I decided to run again for a second term!
I’ve been on the exec of 93% Club and Working Class Students’ Association. These roles offered me the chance to give back to the groups that helped me get settled at Durham. I also helped organise housing protests last year.
Why is the role important to you?
The role matters to me because there’s so much more I want to do! I believe so far this year, we’ve done some really positive things, like launching a collective complaint against the University over industrial action, helping with the housing co-op campaign, securing £25,000 for JCR hardship funds as well as a further £500,000 for the Durham Grant Scheme while making it available to more students. I want to continue delivering on the things that matter to you!
I care deeply about access and changing the culture of Durham University to make it a more welcoming place for underrepresented students present and future. I also want to continue tackling the dire state of housing in Durham and strip power and attention away from the core bureaucracy of the SU to empower students to do amazing things in their societies, colleges, faculties and communities where their work matters most.
Why should people vote for you?
I've got the experience of holding the role now. I know how the University operates, how they make decisions, what will and won’t work. I bring leadership, knowledge and passion and will continue to advocate for students aggressively and unapologetically to University management. But don't vote for continuity for continuity’s sake. I’m not oblivious to the SU’s limitations, and I’m not sentimental about it. It is far from perfect and has a long way to go. But I know how to get there.
Together, we can continue building a better future for students at this university and for the city.
If elected, what sort of officer would you be?
If re-elected, I will continue to be uncompromising about the need for massive cultural and structural change at Durham.
The SU can appear abstract, distant, and unaccountable at times, I want to change that. This year, my work has been all about getting more students from different communities involved in decision-making and better represented in the SU by creating a new layer of paid leadership positions within the Officer team.
Next year, I will continue in the same vein, developing ways to involve more students and support those who contribute to the vibrant and diverse Durham culture.
In one sentence, tell us what you imagine Durham could become
By building bridges with the community, fostering a rich academic culture, ending the de facto rule of landlords and overcoming the failures of the University in its current form, Durham can redefine what it means to be a university city.
