SU Women’s officer-elect will not take up post
Manjari Gupta becomes the fourth women’s officer to step down since 2022
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The Cambridge Students' Union (SU) newly-elected women’s officer will not take up her post in September, making her the fourth to step down since 2022.
In an announcement on their website this morning (17/07), the SU announced that Manjari Gupta would not take up her role following issues with her Visa.
Milo Eyre-Morgan previously resigned from the post in early 2022 as well as Heidi Chan, who was elected as the women’s officer following Eyre-Morgan’s resignation but did not take up the role for personal reasons.
Chalo Waya, the SU disabilities officer, has also been delayed in taking up their post due to PhD funding issues. This means that the SU will start their term with a team of only six of the eight elected sabbatical officers.
The SU claimed that they “are working closely with Chalo and their funding team to resolve this as soon as possible”.
The six other members of the sabbatical team took up their roles on 15 July.
Both Waya and Gupta were supposed to join the SU for this handover period on the first of July before their term started but failed to do so, Varsity understands.
The two officers were elected in March this year, with both of their roles being uncontested.
Chalo Waya told Varsity: “Those concerned are working to address the necessary administrative requirements and enable me to take up my role as soon as practicably possible.”
“They are keeping the SU informed. Because several domestic and international organisations are involved, the process has taken a bit longer than expected,” they continued.
This comes after the SU saw four out of their eight elected sabbatical officers resign in the last academic year, with the women’s, disabilities, welfare, and postgraduate access officers all stepping down.
In May, Varsity reported on allegations of racism, harassment, and bullying of SU staff by their senior management team last term.
SU postgraduate president Vareesh Pratap went on hunger strike last term after acussing the SU of being a nepotistic “quasi-family business,” and raised concerns over the alleged harassment of sabbatical officers. Pratap’s hunger strike ended last month, after University heads agreed to address his demands in “a timely manner”.
The Cambridge Students' Union and Manjari Gupta were contacted for comment.
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