SU23 - Our questions to candidates for Students' Union president

Questions to candidates for Students’ Union president, Jamie-Lukas Campbell, Beth Elder and Ronnie Lynch

What’s your number one priority?

Jamie-Lukas: My number one priority is getting the SU on a track where we’re working smarter, not harder. To that end, I’ll be working with the officer team and SU staff on an audit and overhaul of both our internal and external communication; establishing metrics so the SU reaffirms its values and officers have a better sense of where their own work and projects come into alignment with our organisation; and implementing transparency – students cannot have accountability until we have transparency.

Beth: My number one priority is cost of living support, which I’ve outlined in the next question, so please read on to find out more.

It’s important to highlight that although my manifesto states it as its own point – Mental Health is the underlying theme throughout all of my points. Our mental health is impacted by not having enough money to get by, by having a lack of community and opportunity to make the changes we need to help us thrive, by a lack of resources on Canvas to allow us to feel confident in ourselves and our studies. Every single student deserves to have a good experience at university, and I wholeheartedly believe student mental health at Queen’s is an epidemic, and each of the points I cover will have a small hand in mitigating this.

Ronnie: End tyranny.

In what tangible ways will you support students through the ongoing cost of living crisis?

Jamie-Lukas: We will deliver tangible support to students however we can. This includes pursuing free meals and discounts; establishing accommodation emergency support funds; demanding that the government provide greater bursaries and funding to students on placement – existing bursaries for tomorrow’s nurses, doctors, therapists, and teachers simply isn’t enough; and emergency spending cards to help students – especially International students who don’t yet have a UK banking account – access to funds to buy emergency supplies of food and basic essentials. For mental health, we need to make sure we’re actively lobbying for students’ quicker access to emotional and mental care and treatment.

We will actively, strategically demand greater funding support for International students, lobbying for home or reduced tuition rates for asylum-seeking students, and calling on management to find savings and freeze tuition and accommodation fees. We can be smart fiscal stewards whilst ensuring that we’re not hampering students’ access to higher education.

Beth: Cost of living support is the very first point on my manifesto. We all know this is an ongoing issue that isn’t going away, so the Students’ Union needs to continue to support students. 

The current refill pantry was an initiative that I had a helping hand in pushing for, and its success speaks for itself. We’ve even had some students emailing with a photo of the meal they cooked with the free items they received, so it was lovely to see the impact this is having. 

As my manifesto outlines, I’d like to focus on mitigating the costs that students told us were the most pressing – food and travel.

Firstly, I plan to keep the pantry running for as long as possible, as well as ensuring free food is placed in all student spaces. After research and conversations with key stakeholders – introducing £1 hot meals on campus that are good quality could have a huge impact and would be self-sustainable.

Additionally, financial support for students travelling to their mandatory, unpaid, full time placements is a huge priority. Within my role as Education officer, I have already explored many of the hidden costs of education – most of which came from placement travel - and potential solutions to this. As president I’d like to; increase the mileage from 24.3p/litre to at least 50p/litre which is in line with the staff mileage, invite Translink to campus to allow students to print discount smartcards on the spot, as well as pushing for reduction in public transport costs. Ideally, public transport would be free for all students, however I want to focus on the more immediate-term solutions to help students in the here and now.

Ronnie: Printing more money.

What active steps will you take to improve the transparency of the SU and what it does for students?

Jamie-Lukas: The SU needs to go to where students – our members – are. We will hold pop-ups across campus. We will hold Students’ Union Council meetings away from the SU building and in spaces across campus that are traditionally ignored or underappreciated. I will work with the officer team and the Union director to develop organisational priorities that are measurable and well-communicated across the SU so that we can better work together. Transparency begins within our own structure first. Once we’ve attained that, we’ll be able to deliver a more transparent system for students. But, overall for our members we need to focus on those connections and conversations – both online and in-person – more than once or twice a semester; pop-ups led by the officer team, stronger engagement with our clubs and societies, and community-building activities informed by a strategy that the officer team will develop, will get us on the right track.

Beth: The issue of transparency is one that is strangely controversial. When we as current student officers say we want to make the Union more transparent, we get asked “Why haven’t you done that this year? Surely the current lack of transparency is your fault?”

Transparency to me means getting the word out there; events, development opportunities, free food, the strikes, renters rights, wins within the Union and efforts of our student reps.

So, how do we get the word out there? The social media coverage of these things is only one side of the coin. If we want students to know about what we’re doing, we should get out there and tell them. Weekly pop-up SU’s across campus; in the MBC, CSB, PFC, McClay, etc would be a fantastic way to get our faces out there as representatives, help students feel like they are a member of the community, and let them know about the opportunities available to them. As president, I will lead the entire team of student officers to go out on campus and directly engage with students on campus.

I love nothing more than a good chat with students about anything and everything!

Ronnie: All meetings and debates will be moved to the Lanyon courtyard for spectating.

If staff strikes continue during your presidency, will you support them?

Jamie-Lukas: Definitely! If staff strikes continue during my presidency, I will actively and proactively strategically support them. Our students are also members of local trade unions and we have a moral obligation to support our colleagues at the pickets. However, I understand that strikes can be tough on students, especially my fellow International students. So, I will work with the University to provide alternative support for students during strike action. This includes providing meals for students to help bring us together in community, focusing our communications as a Union on the strikes and why we support them, partnering with trade unions to ensure student workers face no retaliation, and encouraging the University to have transparent calls directly to students in open forums and debates with UCU and Unite. We need to see the University practise good faith surrounding strike action and be more transparent.

Beth: As Education officer this year, the strikes have been on my radar more than most. Many students contact me, concerned about the impact of the strikes on their ability to access the content they need to pass their degree, with many worried they may not be able to graduate. 

I am a strong advocate for the rights of all educators – including our postgraduate students who are getting screwed over too – and I am happy to stand in solidarity with UCU and Unite. 

As we have done this year, I will continue to ensure we are acting on behalf of the students by acquiring a mandate before each round of strike action. We are student representatives, and we should be working on behalf of the students, ensuring we are representing their views.

Importantly – should a marking boycott proceed, I will do everything in my power to ensure students are not held back from graduating. Although I fully support the strikes, I am here to advocate for the students, and I don’t want the student experience to be severely negatively impacted.

Ronnie: Only if the staff support my strike to get cigarettes in the SU shop.

How have your personal experiences shaped your manifesto?

Jamie-Lukas: I am no stranger to overcoming adversity. I grew up in a very low-income family and have personally lived from paycheck-to-paycheck my entire life. I am a Black queer person who has faced a degree of racism in every job I’ve ever had. And, despite all of that, I have managed to excel in a world that wasn’t designed to be inclusive of people like me. I have used every fibre of my being to excel and deliver or support on positive impact for people everywhere I can: I have delivered protections and funding for thousands of students, championed equality and diversity, and delivered on progressive solutions for people. I struggle with anxiety, and for my own emotional wellbeing and mental health, I always strive to lead with empathy and human connection.

Beth: Personally, I have struggled with anxiety since the age of 13, and have always been extremely interested in advocating for mental health training amongst the masses. The first panic attack I had absolutely terrified me because I didn’t know what was happening or how to make it stop, and I know I would have benefitted from that awareness.

Additionally, throughout my time at Queen’s I’ve been in positions of leadership; as course rep, school rep and vice-president of the Pharmacy society. These roles are what made me fall in love with Education work, and what brought me to the position I am in today.

As a person, I am extremely positive and optimistic, and I really enjoy talking to people to find out their stories and take on board their perspectives. I haven’t always had a strong community of friends around me, and I know more than most the importance of that community to keep you sane when things get tough. 

My manifesto is a product of all of the wonderful people I have met and interacted with in my time here at Queen’s – I know as your next SU president I can use my personal experience to bring our vision to life.

Ronnie: They haven’t, my manifesto is a sham.

And finally, what three items would you bring to a desert island to pass the time?

Jamie-Lukas: I would bring a satellite phone to communicate with home. Since moving to Belfast, I have rung my mum every afternoon. She’s my best friend. I haven’t been able to fly back to visit her since I moved to Belfast in September 2021, but calling her and FaceTiming at least once per week helps set the world to rights for me. There’s nowhere like home, and my mom is home for me. A multi-purpose tool so I can put my crafting to use – I love to crotchet and recently learned to knit; it’s been great for relaxing and has helped me save money on furnishings I’ve made for myself. The last item is a water filter. I drink as much water as I can every day and iced coffee pretty much all day; I need filtered water!

Beth: This is a tough one, but I’d firstly bring my independent women (my friend group that I couldn’t go through life without - they all know who they are), a speaker loaded with some tunes because we all love to frequent the Union Bar’s Good Friday for a boogie, and lastly my gremlin dog because she makes all the stress melt away!

Ronnie: Cigars or a hookah/narghile, tequila and some form of music playing device that would work on a desert island.

To see all the candidates running, visit the Queen’s SU website