It is quite ironic that I have known, almost to the letter, certain lines of my leaving speech since before I even got elected. And instead of delivering the lines and capturing the chamber with my wise words and poignant points, I appear through the medium of video.
6 weeks ago, I was given a once in a life time opportunity to participate in a youth delegation to South Africa and Swaziland, with an incredible charity called ACTSA. So unless something has gone horribly wrong (touchwood) I am living the South African dream as you listen to my speech.
In my 2 years on Guild council I sat and listened to officers give their leaving speeches. And sorry to disappoint, but this speech isn’t going to be controversial, revolutionary or eye opening. To me, my leaving speech is about saying thank you, to a Guild that has given me so much, and to people who have made my year in office so amazing.
When I arrived at University in 2006, I was a completely different person.Exhausted after a relationship, which on reflection was the biggest mistake of my life. I moved into the mighty Elgar Court, hoping for a new beginning only to find that I was living with not one but two mentors, a third year who never came out of her room, and 2 other first years, one of whom already knew other freshers and the other who had already had enough and escaped upstairs to her boyfriends flat: gutted!
But I survived and in the end had a great first few weeks, meeting the most incredible girls in my seminar group who turned out to be my best friends and housemates for the rest of University, and who have never been in this chamber, but instead had to put up with my absence and tiredness due to political nonsense for far too long. Nic, Claire, Helen I actually don’t know what would have happened if I haven’t found you. I also owe thanks to Harriet and Jess, who also ended up being my housemates and both helped me volumes in my election.I hope you all realise how much I love and appreciate you all, and how sorry I am that I’ve not been around as much as I have wanted to be this year. I really have missed you all. My one and only regret about doing this job is the effect it may have had on my friendships with some of you. I’m sorry.
So I got through my first term, and remember seeing the nomination packs for RA elections, and being way too scared to go through with running. Lucky for me- there were just two positions filled and they were both uncontested, so I hedged my bets and I ran to be Vice President (Services) on the Elgar Court Residence Association during the bye election, in what turned out to be the only contested election on the ballot paper: gutted. But I fought and I won and being an RA really did change my life.
RAs are the most consistent, talented, passionate activists that ever come out of the guild: FACT. One of the things that bugs me most is when even the most informed people write the RAs off. It is about time that everyone realised that RAs show us all up when it comes to knowing their constituents, effective representation and total conviction.
And I could never talk about being an RA without paying tribute to Sally Hinchley, who changed the whole ethos of being an RA, away from individuals who wanted to organise parties, into activists who wanted to fight for a better deal for their students. Sally was such a talented VPHC who inspired me beyond belief, had much more confidence than me than I had in myself and gave me invaluable support throughout my time as an RA and beyond.
It was when I was an RA that I met Gary Hughes. There are some people who are so unfair on him, far too quick to shoot him down, but don’t believe a word of it. All you need to listen is to election candidates and outgoing officers thanking him, year after year after year for his contribution to and unwavering passion for the Guild and everything it stands for. He is definitely not always as subtle as he should be, and sometimes he is just plain stupid but I am confident that he is one of the best presidents we have ever had, and want to thank him publicly for that and so much more.
I think it is fair to say without the influence of Sally and Gary and the gentle push of Naush Khan, I would not be making this speech today.
When I decided to run for election in my second year I was so hurt and disappointed at the reception of a few individuals, who I always believed were friends that would support me.
It is those of us who love the Guild and its democracy so often do so at risk shutting others out. It is difficult for us to realise that years of service on Guild Council, for student groups or as student reps does not always produce the best candidate. It is even more difficult to overcome the perception that certain people have “rights” to certain officer roles, where others do not. As passionate as I’m sure we are, the Guild needs to be more inclusive; we should be welcoming candidates in elections who are “outsiders” with open arms, not slamming the door in their face.
What has passed has passed, and I can only say that I hope that I proved those who doubted me wrong. Alex Zatman, I don’t know if you will remember our conversation in the Gisbert Kapp one day about my then potential candidacy and you told me just to go for it. As simple as your solution may appear now, that support meant so much. Thank you. And Ed Sparkes, I convinced you in the end and your help during my campaign really showed me what a true friend you are. You are going to be an incredible officer next year.
So I won my election and the priviledge of being your Vice President Welfare. To everyone that voted for me, I hope I didn’t let you down and thank you.
My only other bug bear with the Guild and this will be my opportunity to make it known is the sexism that is still rife: in student groups, in elections between officers. When I go off on a feminist rant, as I so often do a lot of people just look at me and laugh. But sexism isn’t funny. It isn’t funny that me Hannah and Jen will get paid 20% less than Sparky, Oggy, Rich or Tom. It’s not funny that it will take us decades longer to pay off our student debt. And it’s not funny that statistically, at least one of us will be sexually assaulted and none of the boys will.
We need to start taking liberation seriously, because it is our duty as a union to ensure that all of our members are treated equally.
Where on the surface everything seems fine it is not. The very fact that we have liberation officers is challenged, when female students are disproportionately affected by higher education funding, when LGBT students are bullied in halls and receive no support, when black students suffer in schools that don’t have anonymous marking and disabled students find it difficult to even access the library the case for liberation officers couldn’t be more clear.
We can and must do better but we never will until we are all behind liberation whole heartedly.
I’ve watched other officers use their leaving speeches to outline their achievements and ring fence their legacy. But it’s not about that to me. We need to stop working in year long cycles and being so territorial about our work. Only when we do this will we really beat those who are trying to stop us.
And I have every faith in Johnny and his understanding of this and he is going to make a wonderful sabb. I am so happy you won your election and even more happy that I’m going to be around to see you in action. You have been a massive support to me this year and I only hope that I can repay the favour if you need me.
Now all that is left are the thank yous that I have missed so far, quite glad I’m not here actually as I imagine you would all be getting annoyed at me for taking so long!
I’ll start by listing some people who I know aren’t going to be in the room but deserve a special mention. Labour students, who have supported me massively this year as well as being very close to my heart, in particular Sarah, Alan, Katie, Wes, Joe, Estelle, Ed and Susan.
Jimmy Mac for helping me out with my speeches, and my campaign team of glory, Sophie, Joe, Jamie, Harriet, Jess, Rumbie and of course Luu Rudd who was an absolute star. There are no words that justify how much I owe you. Love you lots.
Tom Guise, I hope you are in the room being as you are the new King of democracy! Thank you for all of your support and wisdom this year, but no thank you for ruining my David Miliband collage.
And now the non sabbs, who as I have said in Guild Council meetings have the most difficult job in the world. We expect so much from them, forgetting that they are studying hard and in some cases working part time as well and the criticism placed upon them is often unfair. There have been so many achievements this year-
Siobhan: FocSoc up for 4 Guild awards….
Nasher: ensuring satellite sites get commitment from the whole officer team in future years.
Pippa: a commitment to environmentalism from representatives in halls, an e and e forum, SILVER sound impact as well as being committed to ensuring that the whole Guild is run by students, in the interest of students.
Suzy: a well deserved commendation for Holocaust Memorial Day. You haven’t had it easy what with your doom foot, and your tendancy to pass out and make me cry, but that event was such a fitting tribute for those who lost their lives in the Holocaust.
And Emod. Such a talented officer and a fantastic friend. With pride is a protest, you reminded everyone about the roots of pride and you created a national movement. And you have a commitment from the University to investigate the experiences of LGBT students here. Thank you for being such a great friend to me, for making Lucille brush my hair, and always giving me the right advice. You should be proud of what you have achieved and I can’t wait to watch you go on and do great things.
I secretly like to think that being a sabb is like being in the West Wing (I’m Josh Lyman in a big way). Lots of drama, having conversations whilst walking down corridors because there is no time, pressure, pressure, pressure and one tiny mistake has seismic consequences.
I love it though, I really do, and as much as we moan about being tired, frustrated and unsupported I always remind myself what a massive privilege being an officer actually is, and if I could give one bit of advice to next years team it would be never forget that.
I could not have gotten through this year without my fellow sabbs around me and I wouldn’t have wanted to. Regardless of the fights, tears and tantrums we have had at one point or another, I wouldn’t swap a single one of you.
So my last thank yous go to the sabbs.
Sparky, your passion for sport is unwavering, uncompromising and so inspiring. But you have given your all to the Guild as well, getting involved with Wellbeing, elections and the building redevelopment.
Tom: When I first met you I never knew how to take you. We had so many late nights in my back garden drinking beer, yet it took me hiding in the Mason Lounge to find out that you were actually supporting me in my election. I know now that you are really thoughtful and caring, and although I argue with you more than anyone else I think it makes us both stronger. You have been a constant source of entertainment this year, from your crazy dancing, to listening to total eclipse of the heart at full volume on repeat and the famous Marley swagger. You can cheer me up without even trying and that is a great thing to be able to do.
Rich: you are a NIGHTMARE. You are absolutely no nonsense and that is one of the many things I love about you. I am in total awe of your commitment and enthusiasm for student activities. You really have thrown yourself onto the front line for societies and volunteer groups and they are so much better because of all of your hard work. A formidable officer who will go on and do great things (I am hoping the apprentice is on the cards).
Hannah: It has really upset me that Guild Council has pin-pointed and attacked the small errors in your work, often at the expense of celebrating your successes. But your commendations this year have been totally deserved, you should never doubt that and stop doubting yourself. You are amazing.
Jen: it has been a real pleasure to work with you. You really are a great leader. You have challenged me and stopped me in my tracks so many times but you have made me grow and I have been a better officer because of it. You have forced the organisation onto the right path and made it crystal clear what we are here to do and whether they realize it or not, activists will benefit from your legacy for years to come . I know you are going to go on and do great things in the black students movement and I want to wish you the best of luck.
Oggy: I really don’t know where I could even start or finish with you. You have been there on every step of my journey, from working together during RA elections, to our days on the mighty Elgar RA, to exec elections, to sharing an office this year. This whole experience would not have been the same without you by my side. Thank you for always being there, for being so supportive of me and being an amazing friend. You are such a talented officer and so grounded. I couldn’t have been happier when you went through with the hall fees protest and I have so much respect for you for doing it. Well done on a fantastic year, I only hope you are as proud of yourself as I am of you
I want to wish next years officer team the best of luck. I can’t say it enough but never forget what a priviledge being a guild officer is. Have fun and never forget why you ran for election, or the people who elected you. So many people have so much invested in this Guild so look after it.
And Guild Council good luck, whether you are going to be around for a few more years or if you are graduating this summer. The passion of guild councilors and other activists keeps officer teams going through the year. So hold them to account but support them at the same time. It is as much your job to look after the Guild as it is theirs.
Thank you for everything
