Hi to my fellow SOAS students, young and old!

I would love to be voted in to represent all of you as one of our two NUS delegates this year! Currently, I am a second year student of Arabic and Turkish and I also hold the role of Editor-in-Chief of our newspaper, The SOAS Spirit. I am passionately involved in many campaigns at SOAS and would like to see these represented and their values upheld at the NUS conference this coming spring. 

This year we have a particularly robust campaigning Students' Union who have opted to take stances already on issues such as course cuts, outsourcing and PREVENT strategy. As a Muslim student - and, you know, a human being - I would seek to carry forth the Union's stance on PREVENT at the NUS conference, as this is an especially crucial year in tackling Islamaphobia, racism and surveillance on our campsuses. With recent developments in course cuts and revelations of just how deep the flaws in senior management at this institution are, I would also seek at the conference to see how SOAS can work with other universities to challenge the marketisation of education and create universities all over the UK with a more stable, interactive and transparent system of management. 

Though I cannot claim to represent any one group that I am not a part of, I would also do my best to represent the wishes and needs of marginalised communities within SOAS, such as LGTBQI+, Black, disabled and minority students. (And obviously as a self-identifying woman, I will do my best to serve in the interests of my fellow self-identifying women at SOAS!) SOAS is an incredibly active university and we have a large role to play on the national scale when it comes to student governance and guiding the future of universities. 

Thank you!