The Students’ Union (SU) leadership candidates have defended their campaign platforms at two recent hustings events.
The hustings, held on Friday (20/02) and Monday (23/02), were sparsely attended, with the audience mostly consisting of SU workers, the candidates themselves, and their supporters. The events were also livestreamed on YouTube.
Candidates were given one minute each to deliver opening and closing statements, as well as the opportunity to respond to both pre-prepared and audience questions.
All four candidates for postgraduate president attended the hustings. Sonia Fereidooni, a PhD student in digital humanities and Gates Scholar, criticised the “casualisation” of postgraduate workers, and said she would force the University to make hard timelines and transparent reporting of decisions mandatory. She also claimed to have generated support for a campaign to stop Microsoft, which was founded by Bill Gates, from providing technology to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
Roman Shainskyi, an MPhil student in entrepreneurship at Judge Business School, said his main objective is to make students aware of AI and cryptocurrency opportunities they can use to make money while studying. Asked by undergraduate presidential candidate Nessar Rafiq how he would approach the University’s response to the war in Gaza, Shainskyi said that, under his leadership, the SU would stop doing “politics”. He added that he would be “president of the students,” not “president of Israel,” and said that he would end the SU’s pro-Palestine “propaganda”.
Jeeves Rohilla, a PhD student in theology, described Cambridge as “a deeply flawed, unjust system”. He pledged to tackle the cost-of-living crisis by increasing access to hardship funds and redistributing college wealth, saying: “Cambridge should challenge you academically, not financially”. He also criticised the recent treatment of vet school students and Palestinian offer holders, saying that both situations show the University treats students as “numbers, not people”.
Olivia-Chineze Riddle, a master’s student in linguistics, pledged to abolish the master’s application fee, and said she would build on the expertise of postgraduate students as researchers and academics. She emphasised the need to hold the University to account, arguing that Cambridge has a “pattern of delaying” that “cannot continue unchallenged”.
The three candidates for undergraduate president each focused on different aspects of the role. Melanie Benedict, the current vice-president for liberation and welfare, pledged to expand their current campaigning work on issues including fairer rents, ethical investments, and trans inclusion.
Nessar Rafiq described being treated as a “second-rate student” due to his mature status. He pledged to work 12-14 hour shifts in the role, and described his approach to Senate House as like a “nuclear bomb”. He also praised the other candidates, adding that he understands if students wish to vote for someone “more diplomatic”.
Rafiq outlined his aim for improving SU engagement: he set a goal of 500 attendees at the subsequent hustings, pledging to donate 50% of his salary to charity if he fails in this objective. He also claimed that he would resort to legal action against the University, saying: “We haven’t got time while people are dying […] I’ll show these b***ers”.
Sophia Choudhury, a third-year geography student, said that she wanted the University to be “for students and not for profit”. She criticised council meetings as “too formal,” instead proposing the use of surgeries for JCRs. Choudhury added that being president of the Cambridge University Palestine Solidarity Society demonstrated her skills of balancing campaigning with her studies.
The current vice-president for student community and societies, Olivia Ledger, is competing with Stella Wilkinson for the position. Ledger focused on what she considered her most important achievements in the role, including a comprehensive room-booking guide for societies, a volunteering fair, and a winter holidays activity project. She said her top priority as vice-president would be reforming the grant system for societies, describing the current criteria as confusing.
Wilkinson, a fourth-year natural sciences student, highlighted her time as JCR arts officer and involvement with the Cambridge Community Kitchen as evidence of suitability for the role. She pledged to introduce weekly office hours for societies, as well as an anonymous feedback form. Wilkinson also said the SU “could do with a lot of work,” and described her goal of improving the SU’s website interface to make it more accessible.
Talulla Harris, running for vice-president for liberation and welfare, described her candidacy as a “natural progression of my time here at Cambridge,” which she says has largely been “dedicated to organising work,” such as participation in Gender Agenda and Cambridge for Palestine. She cited street safety and college inequality as key issues she would address.
Yuqing Yang, a master’s student in linguistics at Girton, is the other candidate for the role. She said she had suffered from poor mental health while at Cambridge, and that she would like the University to take wellbeing more seriously before the point of crisis, employing a preventative rather than a reactive approach.
The position of vice-president for education and widening participation is the most contested. Jessica Asiedu-Kwatchey, the current vice-president, highlighted her involvement in supporting vet students during deliberations over the closure of the vet school. She also expressed her intention to produce a comprehensive guide to the financial support available to students, including those studying for a master’s.
Sarah Misraoui, a third-year historian and former Peterhouse JCR president, attributed her passion for access to her personal experiences, having been homeless as a child and losing her hearing at age 16. She claimed that one of the biggest challenges hindering access at the University is the presumption that prospective applicants already know about access programmes, which she argued favours those with existing knowledge of the institution.
Maya Karthikeyan, an education MPhil student, focused on existing inequalities in higher education, arguing that “hierarchies of capitalism and racism shape education, including at Cambridge”. She emphasised the need for more accessible funding information, and pledged to advocate for scrapping master’s application fees.
Martin Varga, a fourth-year engineering student, focused on changes to the academic system at Cambridge. He named his three main priorities as introducing the right to exam resits without mitigating circumstances, greater marking transparency, and improved work-life balance for students.
Corrine Kola-Balogun, a third-year HSPS student, said she would aim to help more students from state-school backgrounds apply to Cambridge, and continue to support them once they arrive. She cited the lack of clarity around specific aspects of Cambridge life like supervisions, and information on life post-graduation, as significant barriers to access.
The two university councillor candidates who attended the hustings were Bethany Watson and Nmesoma Kamalu. Watson described her campaign as “unapologetically activist,” pledging to force the University to publish its sexual assault reporting statistics annually. She added that she wants to work constructively with the University, but would not be afraid to “challenge” council members.
Kamalu argued that the University’s governing body should be “people-first,” adding that “students deserve to be heard on any issues that impact them”. She said she would bring “evidence-based decision-making” to the Council by addressing issues using “data the University cannot overlook”.
Abel Mavura did not attend the hustings, but his answers were read out in his absence. He pledged to implement “transparent communication” in order to maintain trust in the University’s institutions. He also emphasised the need to consider the impact of decisions on students earlier in the process, rather than merely when difficulties arise.
Vareesh Pratap, who is also running for university councillor, albeit without a manifesto, was not present at either hustings. The former postgraduate president is best known for undertaking a 45-day hunger strike over alleged nepotism within the SU.
