This morning (26/02) will see the campaign begin for this year’s Cambridge Students’ Union elections, with the election hustings taking place this evening. This is the second year that the elections for the recently-combined SU, which was previously split between the Graduate Union and CUSU, and the first year that these have taken place entirely online. As a result, the election hustings are planned to take place via Zoom.

Following this, voting will take place between Monday 1st and Thursday 4th of March, with the results being announced on the evening of the 4th. 

Undergraduate President

The role of Undergraduate President, as in previous years, is the most highly-contested in this year's elections with four candidates, compared to five last year.

Allison O’Malley Graham, a final-year Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) student at Murray Edwards, decided to run for the role because she was “tired of seeing my friends and course mates stretched thin and struggling to get [...] support,” and stated that she does not “want us to go back to ‘normal’ Cambridge life— [...] I want us to make ‘normal’ better.” She will also focus heavily on fairer college rent, describing it as her “bread and butter.”

Amy Bottomley, a double-time 4th-year English student at St John's, has previously worked with SU Class Act Campaign, and described having “seen first hand the struggles of students across the University as a result of their handling of the pandemic.” They also aim to address the “disconnect [...] between the University and the SU, but also between the SU and its students.”

Ciara Aberdeen, a second-year maths student at Trinity, “feels that the SU hasn’t done enough to support students this year,” and stated that their “campaign focuses on the failures of the SU this year,” citing the controversy over non-essential in-person teaching in October. One of her priorities as President “would be to introduce weekly or fortnightly open meetings, which any Cambridge student can attend, to discuss union activities with the SU executive committee.”

Zak Coleman, also a final-year HSPS student at Jesus, told Varsity that he feels “frustrated by aspects of the way the University currently operates which end up unnecessarily harming students’ experiences,” such as the “unsustainable workloads,” and supports the proposal to implement a reading week. He will also promote “common-sense climate action policies” in order to “help secure a sustainable future for our generation.”

Postgraduate President

Anjum Nahar is an MPhil student studying English at Murray Edwards. The former co-chair of the CamSU Ethical Affairs team expressed a desire “to honor and extend their work”. Her campaign will focus on “fair rent, expanding access to funding, and better mental health resources”, and her first priority if elected will be “to lobby the University on behalf of” postgraduates and international students who face disruption to “funding, visas and immigration” as a result of the pandemic.

Jenny Ward George is a third-year PhD engineer. Currently the Peterhouse MCR President, she aims to “ensure postgraduates continue to get proactive, enthusiastic representation going forward from the SU.” Her campaign will focus on “Pandemic, Housing & Economics, and Welfare”, including “better financial assistance for graduates”, “developing minimum standards of care for student-supervisor relationships” and “a new set of resources for students who have been victims of domestic abuse.” Her priority if elected will be to ensure the “the fall-out of Covid-19 [...] is fully investigated from the postgraduate perspective.”

Liam Webb is studying an MPhil in Translational Biomedical Research at Trinity Hall. His motivations for running include tackling the “new, unexpected difficulties to members of our community” as a result of Covid-19, and he states “it is easy for PG students to be overlooked during normal times, let alone during a pandemic.” His campaign will focus on “increased access to [...] mental health provisions for students” and “ensuring an equality of living costs” between undergraduates and postgraduates, as well as “extra resources on the transition from [undergraduate] to [postgraduate].”

Disabled Students' Officer

With three candidates running for Disabled Students’ Officer (DSO), this is one of the more contested roles this year. Last year, current DSO Rensa Gaunt ran unopposed.

Robin Denham’s campaign will focus on making sure colleges, faculties, and the University “plan with disabled people in mind from the start”, as he believes students still suffer from “outdated, ableist ways of education and assessment”. 

Anna Ward wants “to support and cherish the disability community”. Anna believes online teaching has been an advantage for disabled students, and does not want “the progress in online teaching and alternative exams to go backwards when face-to-face teaching and assessment become safe again”.

Peter Jonathan Lucas is also running for the role.

University Councillor

The role of University Councillor is also a highly-contested role this year with three candidates. Alongside the SU Presidents, the University Councillor is a student member of the University Council.

Candidates include Charli Hendy, a second-year undergraduate studying Archaeology at St. John’s, whose campaign will focus on decolonisation and student welfare- including workloads and increased funding for the Disabilities Resource Centre (DRC).

Freddie Poser, who was University Councillor last year, which he describes as an “honour”, is a third-year undergraduate computer scientist from Gonville and Caius and is running for the role for a second time. His campaign will concentrate on fairness and consistency across colleges’ Covid-19 response and the proper implementation of divestment.

Peter Jonathan Lucas is also running for the role.

Welfare and Communities Officer

Ewan Hawkins studies HSPS at King’s College, and wants to increase funding for the DRC, as well as the University Counselling Service and College support.

Ben Dalitz is an MPhil Classicist at St John’s, focusing their campaign on improving welfare problems such as loneliness highlighted by the pandemic, as well as improving access to support services.

Women’s Officer

Milo Eyre-Morgan, a third-year Natural Scientist at Newnham, is running uncontested for Women’s Officer. They will promote “four key manifesto themes: Work, Safety, Autonomy, and Intersectionality”. Their first priorities will be to “help transform conversations around consent” and implement “revisions to university IT, in time for student registration and the start of Michaelmas 2021.”

BME Officer

Tara Choudhury is running uncontested for BME Officer. Her first priority is to hold the university to account for “surface-level statements and euphemistic acknowledgements of the institutional racism here”.

Undergraduate Access, Education and Participation Officer

Zaynab Ahmed is a third-year Classicist at Newnham College. She wants outreach that “addresses the specific needs of individual groups”, and advocates the continuation of recorded lectures once restrictions are lifted.

Alex Roberts is a third-year Natural Sciences student at Magdalene. His slogan will be, “Accessible, Expanded, and Post-Admissions Access,” for a campaign which will promote the use of appropriate online platforms that can support those with “audio processing, attentional, and hearing issues.”

Postgraduate Access, Education and Participation Officer

Amelia Jabry is studying an MPhil in Sociology at Lucy Cavendish. Her priority is “to scrap the £70 (soon to be £75) [Cambridge] application fee”, and her campaign will lobby the University to put “more emphasis on PG welfare”, increase “means-tested funding” and to “cover the NHS/Visa fee for international students.”

Double Time Officer

Elliot Aitken, a third-year English student at Murray Edwards, is running uncontested for Double Time Officer, who represents the interests of students taking degrees on a part-time basis over a longer period. He plans to “publicise” Double Time as an option for study.

Ewan Hawkins is a member of the Varsity investigations team but has been removed from Varsity’s communication channels for the duration of the campaign