Monday 07-08-2023 - 15:50

I’ve now left Durham, and had time to reflect on the year. It’s been pretty chaotic, very tiring but overall a massive honour to work for you this year. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who’s helped me, and to everyone in their own way who’s helped make Durham a better place. In my matriculation speech this year I told freshers what I thought was special about Durham, when I first joined: students doing things for each other, and making things with each other - in their college, DUCFS, Associations, Palatinate etc. Six years later and Durham students are still doing it, making the experience of their peers more fun, vibrant, diverse and enriching.

One of the things we don’t talk about enough is just how few people drop out of our University - it’s one of the things we should be incredibly proud of. But the fact that so many students do find their people here is not because of some research done by the University on belonging, or because of the student support service (although they are great), or any SU Officer - it’s because students can find the people who fit in with them, and create their own sub communities that act to support each other. It’s not any large organisation that students associate with, but those smaller, autonomous sub-cultures that truly create “small c” collegiality.

This is vastly different from some countries, where education is a far more transactional experience. However, as we sadly see the higher education sector in the UK become increasingly more marketised, with standardised, clinical, copy-pasted “Wider ‘Student’ Experience Enrichment Programmes”, it needs to be the job of Students’ Unions to continue to ensure that students are able to act like students - and not be treated as customers, or infantilised and diminished by their University.

One of the things that concerns me is that with the rapid increase in student numbers, needless restriction on student activity and increasingly toxic attitude towards students in the UK (many 60+ bus passes are accepted as voter ID. Your 16-25 railcard is not) we will lose what made our time special. There’s increasing pressure for students to only ever engage with a private form of activism; appealing to anonymous masses on Durfess or complaining to the University management. One of my former colleagues, from my time as a JCR President described this as the hallmark of culture in which some students only engage as a consumer, rather than actively participating in change. Rather than bemoaning this, the SU can, and should do more. Instead of asking students to be involved in our lives, we should be involved in yours. We need to talk to you more, about what matters, and instead of asking for participation in focus groups or workshops, we need to get out and talk more. As a community, students do fantastic things for each other, and as these become increasingly at risk I was worried that this year we'd have the power to organise together, but not use it to protect what matters.

Since the pandemic we’ve so desperately needed to get this back across the whole of Durham, not just in one or two student groups or common rooms. This is why I can say this year it's been an absolute honour to work with so many student leaders, at all levels of this University, who’ve come together to do so. With every society president or sports captain I’ve spoken to, with every SU rep and Common Room President, and with Dan H who has a tireless job working to get Palatinate articles out, not with the University comms team but despite them, I’ve had the privilege to work with students who care about their communities. Thank you to everyone who came to talk about housing, AI and drug policy with us at “Speak Free”. And a special thank you to everyone who listened to me speak, and talked to me about disability support at your various colleges’ JCR meetings.

I’m excited to see the SU moving in a direction where we try and do less things “for students”, and more things “with students” - and crucially, support students to do their own things. I’m knackered, because this year has been rough for everyone. And overall, I’m finally ready to leave Durham. It is a bubble, albeit a rather pretty one, but the year I joined Aidans’s as a fresher: Burce Forsyth was still alive and kicking; Trump got inaugurated (omen much?) and Danni and Jack had yet to be announced as contestants on Love Island.

I’ll be back to visit at some point - especially now Kingsgate Bar has 2-pint cups (!) and a refurbished balcony *cheeky plug*, but till then, cheers everyone x