Name

Alessio D’Angelo.

Year/Degree/College

Third Year in History at Jesus.

Where is home?

Peterborough.

Where can you be found on a Wednesday night?

Sadly no longer Revs, but in the Union preparing for Thursday night debates.

Last book you read?

Outside of dissertation work it was This Side of Paradise by Fitzgerald but at the moment I’m deep in the middle of Frontier Fieldwork by Andres Rodriguez.

If that TikTokker asked you what song you’re listening to on King’s Parade, what would you have pre-prepared?

‘Sofia’ by Clairo.

Favourite spot in Cambridge?

This really niche underground pub called the Pickerel.

Favourite place you have ever visited?

Bit of a cliché but Koh Phi Phi island is beautiful.

What is the key to happiness?

Fresh mozzarella and good quality olive oil!

What is next?

Unfortunately a sellout historian but hopefully doing the SQE in London!

What’s the best pearl of wisdom you’ve heard from a Union speaker?

Patrick Fabian last year spoke about how it took him until his 40s to be where he wanted to be in life after having many setbacks, so I suppose I learnt to take each day as it comes and be grateful for what I have in the moment.

Were any past speakers completely different in person to what you expected when you invited them?

Having seen documentaries of how ruthless Marco Pierre White was in the 1990s (even making Gordon Ramsay cry) I was pleasantly surprised with how personable he was. Having dinner with him afterwards was truly amazing as I got some insights into one of the world’s greatest culinary minds.

You pledged in your manifesto to expand the Union’s state school outreach program and work on access memberships. How do you plan to achieve this?

This term we’re focusing our outreach on local state schools, offering them the ability to come and engage in some of our events! We are also hoping to use the Union’s platform to get state school students, who may not have had the chance to debate before, involved with the Union. We have improved the transparency around access memberships and how students from all backgrounds are able to participate in the Union. The committee is continuously working with external education groups, in the hopes that we can continue to offer access memberships for those that need them.

If you could only change one (other) thing about the Union during your presidency, what would you want it to be?

I hope that people can see the Union is truly a place for all! Our committee is the most representative yet and they have worked tirelessly to create a term card that best reflects the interests of all of Cambridge.