Tom MacKenzie, a third-year history and journalism student and Arts Officer at the Union, spoke with Brig about their candidacy for the position of Vice President of Communities.
Here’s why they think they should be your next VP Communities.
Q. Why are you running for this position?
A. “Although I’ve had a great time with Arts, the student experience is not good enough. There are issues around welfare, cost of living, government’s accountability, and even for societies. I’m running because I want to reduce the barriers to participation in student life.”
Q. If elected, what’s the first thing you will do in the union?
A. “My priority is ending zero tolerance policy on drug use. The university’s policy at the moment means that if you come looking for support there initially going to call the police instead of helping you. I want to go through the committees and university court to get this policy scrapped because it’s harming students who are seeking help.”
Q. What are your long-term goals for the position?
A. “I’ve got four key areas of my campaign. That’s welfare and conclusion, cost of living, government accountability and improving the student experience by helping societies thrive and improving student spaces.
“Welfare and inclusion [are] to end the zero-tolerance drug policy and also support international and estranged students when entering student life. If you’re an international student or don’t have the support network, it’s hard to start at university. I had a friend in first year when we were having staff cuts and my friend didn’t have the right support and dropped out. I would say that’s the university failing her. We need to do something to change that.
“I want to make sure the university is held to account about how much the principal was getting paid and get a 10-to-one maximum pay ratio. [This] means the principal and higher up [staff] can’t be paid more than 10 times the lowest paid member of staff.
“The accountability area is also relevant to students. I want to introduce accountability students so that with every pay rise and rent increase, they state what is the benefit to students. Also, for the student spaces to be improved within the accommodation areas.
“I also want to improve the community bridge initiative. I want to make sure students can live a sustainable life and don’t have to choose between basic needs.”
Q. What did the current person in this position do well and what did they do that you would like to emulate in your own work?
A. “I think [Justine Pédussel’s] work on building a community and making sure that the campus is a safe space has been done well.
“She’s been working on raising awareness around gender-based violence. I want to make sure this is continued as student safety is a huge issue. The security team has been cut to single figures so if you have a call out for a safety issue or are in danger there isn’t a proper security team to get there quickly. When it comes to gender-based violence, it’s not giving a sign of confidence from the university that they’re doing enough.”
Q. What in the University inspired you to run?
A. “As Arts Officer, I’ve met a lot of students and seen societies do well. But there are barriers to participation in these societies and to living a healthy life with the university. I want to break down these barriers because every student deserves the opportunity to take part in clubs and live a healthy student life. It’s the work of the Students’ Union that’s inspired me but also seeing what’s not there.
“For example, Pathfoot is really inaccessible which is a real barrier to student life. I want to make it more accessible by building better paths and working with the university.”
Q. What makes you right for the position?
A. “I am an experienced volunteer officer. I have been in the role of Arts Officer for about a year and I have been working with the Union on communication. I am not afraid to getting stuck in with working with the union and creating opportunities for students.
“I am also treasurer of the [Stirling University] Greens which are linked to the Scottish National Green movement, [who are] working on championing sustainability both on and off campus.”
Tom’s manifesto can be found here.
Featured image credits: Tom MacKenzie