I am asking Cambridge students to vote to stay affiliated to NUS because leaving now, at what is perhaps the most critical moment in the union’s history, would leave us no stake in the national student movement. I’m asking Cambridge students to vote “No” to disaffiliation because I know what the NUS will mean to the three Black CUSU officers coming into post next year: I would not have finished my term without the ‘NUS Black Sabbs Network’, which supported me in pushing for progressive, race-related policies in our 800 year-old institution.

Yes, I am pro-NUS, but I have not found writing this piece easy. This year, I have been particularly engaged with NUS, culminating in a painful, ultimately unsuccessful bid for the Vice President Higher Education slot — at a conference where I was compelled to question whether I was “left-wing” enough. I was one of the people on the conference floor who watched, mouth open, as a student walked on stage and spoke against a motion to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. I will not tell students NUS is perfect, because it is not. I will not tell students NUS is wholly anti-racist, because it is not. I am asking students to vote No to disaffiliation precisely because our NUS has a long way to go, and I think Cambridge students know a thing or two about pushing for inclusion, change and progressivism in old – ancient – institutions.

Next year, if we remain affiliated, the democratic process can kick into gear. NUS elected officers are held to account at National Executive Council (NEC) at the Sections, Zones and Liberation conferences, as well as the National Conference. To remain affiliated is to have a seat at the table. To remain affiliated is to take forward policy, quiz our representatives and shape NUS. If we leave, we become people shouting from the outside; I think we should be building, shaping – and perhaps shouting – from the inside.

And on the inside, CUSU has historically received tailored support when we’ve needed it most. Lost for ideas on how I could increase student engagement, Megan Dunn, the national President, spoke with me for hours, advising me on the next steps to take. As a result, in part of Megan’s help, we have seen historic levels of engagement in our referenda and CUSU Councils this year. It was with a member of NUS staff that I crafted the CUSU rent workshops. Empowered by the NUS national accommodation costs survey, I was able to advise four separate JCRs and MCRs on their rent negotiations, and create a 25-page handbook on rents and accommodation rights. Without affiliation, CUSU will be locked out of the expertise and resources that have given my arguments undeniable force on the most senior University committees this year.

As CUSU President, in the face of JCR and MCR affiliation referenda, my argument is always the same: if you think CUSU can be better, be part of that; if you think CUSU is shit, change it. I believe it would be wholly hypocritical of me to make an alternative argument in relation to our National Union of Students.

This argument is not easy to make, but I believe it is the right one. A motion, a complaint, a censure— even a vote of no-confidence—  these are the key principles of democratic engagement necessary to forge the kind of NUS Cambridge students want to see. Disaffiliation stops all dialogue, and this would be a great shame as I believe Cambridge students have something genuine and unique to contribute to the national student movement.

I’m also asking Cambridge students to consider voting No to disaffiliation for the incoming officers. As the first Black woman, and second student of colour to do this job, I have sat on committees where I have had to make a case for the “robustness” of the lived-experiences of BME students dealing with racial prejudice. My advocacy has been scrutinised, challenged and questioned. Exhausted and often hurt, I needed the support of those other Black presidents in the NUS network. Those effectively advocating that I could have completed my term without NUS, or that the incoming officers might “train” themselves in dealing with the difficulties of doing this job as a person of colour wholly miss the mark in understanding the continued support needs of minority representatives in an institution like Cambridge.

Ultimately, I understand many students do not agree with me, and that is okay. But in the last 48 hours alone, I have seen parts of this debate descend into abuse which should be a grave concern for all students and activists engaging constructively in this referendum. I do not believe voting Yes to disaffiliation automatically makes you a right-wing racist or fascist, nor do I believe that voting No to disaffiliation automatically makes you anti-Semitic. No student on either side deserves to be subjected to abuse, and we need to call out these unsophisticated, ultimately reckless polarisations of the debate where we see them. On both sides of this referendum are students who want an inclusive, effective and anti-racist student movement — the method, the question of whether engagement or disengagement will realise this change in NUS— is where we diverge.

Here, I have tried to lay out my lived experience, what engagement could look like, and what disaffiliation might mean for your students’ union and elected officers in the years to come. Vote No to disaffiliation because NUS needs to change, and I believe Cambridge students deserve to be part of that process.