Lawrence Coomber, Union President
What happened this fortnight?
- Student Sustainability Forum, with Guest Speaker Jo Campling from Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS) and a presentation from the Palestine Solidarity Network (PSN) on the University’s investment portfolio.
- Continued work on SUSU Governance.
- Leadership Elections of Course!
The Student Sustainability Forum saw our Guest Speaker, Jo, explain in detail the levels and methods of the University’s financial investments, and how fossil fuels are tied into the higher education sector. A whopping 78% of UK universities already have or have committed to divesting from fossil fuels! This was compared to 53% for arms manufacturing, as per PSN’s presentation to us. Lots of work still needs to be done, but these meetings allow us at SUSU and you, the students, to pressure the University to listen and take action. Please look out to attend our next Forum. It was a great discussion and was greatly enhanced as more students attended.
Our meetings have continued reviewing SUSU’s internal rules and have consistently had sabbatical officer involvement and been informed by student needs. It is a monumental task, but we are making good progress.
And, of course, the Leadership Elections! At a record 15% turnout, we couldn’t be happier. Congratulations to Emma, Joshie, Travis, Sparkle, and Toby on your wins! I look forward to welcoming you as next year’s sabbatical officers in June! Thank you to everyone who voted and took part.
See you next fortnight!
Rebecca Would, VP Education and Democracy
Last week, 15% of you voted in our Leadership Elections – our biggest turnout yet! Thanks to everyone who engaged with the campaigns and voted. Congrats to all of our incoming Sabbatical team, especially my fabulous successor, Joshie Christian. They will be absolutely brilliant when they start the role in July (you have a little longer of me left yet!).
This week, I have been focused on prepping for Did You Know? – My campaign is to help you understand policy and process at the uni. The first week back after easter I will be in-person in different spaces across our campuses helping simplify some of the processes at the uni, including special considerations and extensions – keep an eye on @susu_studentvoice on Instagram for confirmation of where I will be and please stop and say hi if you see me around!
Action for you!!! One of the big bits of work I (and several of your school presidents) have been involved in this year is a review of the Academic Calendar – the structure of semesters when exam weeks are, and how many teaching weeks are in a semester – and now it’s time for you to share your thoughts too. <Please watch this 5 minute video> and complete the form at the end to help ensure that the calendar is based on what students need! Any questions, please email me at vpeddem@soton.ac.uk.
Emily Dugdale, VP Activities
Hi everyone!
The past 2 weeks have been pretty meeting heavy! Myself and Conor have been working together on a project and we are continuing to make progress there. I also did a lot of planning for my fundraiser in conjunction with Wildlife Society and Zoology students. We had a Trustee Board, where I attended the pre-brief to ask questions, and I found the student trustee’s insights very useful.
The Sabbs also had Senate last week, where we presented updates on our sabbatical plans to the senators and answered some extra questions on those points. We had an innovation and enhancement fund meeting as well.
I spent the rest of the time researching how other student unions campaign against sports and society initiations, and myself and Conor have firmed up the grant guidelines for grant round 3.
Lottie James, VP Welfare & Community
The last fortnight has been a whirlwind – grab a cup of tea because there’s lots to update you on.
- I met with the University’s Transport team and the UniLink Manager to discuss everything from buses, WSA inclusion, timetabling, changes to Highfield, and accessibility for wheelchair users at NOC. The team is keen to get more feedback from UniLink users, so if you’d like to be a mystery shopper and get a free bus ride in exchange for feedback, let me know.
- As part of our period dignity project, Menstrual Hygiene Day has slotted in nicely with our You Are More Than campaign at the end of May and beginning of June. This day will include some crafts and an educational stall to ensure you’re looking after yourself throughout the two weeks and seeking help such as special considerations if you’re being affected by heightened stress or physical symptoms.
- I loved seeing you all at our Elections Stalls last week. I seem to have created a pattern where most of my visibility stuff has been handing out food: doughnuts, Doritos and Dominos! I love seeing your faces light up though, so it’s always worth it! Elections Night Live was incredible and a big shout out and congratulations to Toby, your VP Inclusion for the 2025/26 period.
- Once again, I attended the University’s Inclusion Action Group and led the conversation astray back to toilets. The toilet committee (as I have fondly named us) has reformed once again, and we are back to ensuring that all our campuses have sufficient gender-neutral facilities for students. We’re also discussing period products in university building toilets, so big win for the toilet committee (the university are listening!!!).
- The Advice Centre has officially reopened for in-person drop-ins, and I have finally reunited with my desk, so if you need anything, come and chat with me in the Advice Centre.
- Finally, if you are being deadnamed or misgendered, please reach out to me. The University have been fantastic and quick to fix issues, but we can’t fix what we don’t know, so please do email me – you don’t need to tell me any personal details, just where it is happening (e.g., if it’s in an email, who it came from!).
Hope the tea didn’t get too cold! Make sure that you’re wearing appropriate SPF and bringing an umbrella – you never know what’s going to happen. Stay safe and healthy, and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks for more updates!
Conor White, VP Sports
Tomorrow, the main Varsity weekend is taking place, where we hope to retain the trophy again, for the 14th year in a row. Our indoor sports will take place in Jubilee and B42 on Saturday, whilst our outdoor sports will be at Wide Lane (with some exceptions).You can check out all of the fixtures and live scores by following this link!
On Sunday evening, the only official Varsity Afterparty will be held in the SUSU Building (B42), featuring two floors, two music genres, drinks deals, and more. Entry is free with a Varsity t-shirt, with additional tickets available for only £4 if you haven’t purchased the main ticket! We are gearing up for a huge attendance and can’t wait to see you there!
Last week, it was great to announce that Travis Arthur will be your next VP Sports for 2025-26. He’s ready to hit the ground, and will be taking over my role in July, alongside the rest of the new Sabbatical team. I also had the pleasure to co-host RAG’s Fight Night with former Union President Ed Brooker, where over £7,000 was raised for charity. Well done to everyone involved for putting on such an amazing event!
I can’t wait to be lifting the varsity trophy (fingers crossed) with all of you on Sunday in the Cube at the official Varsity Afterparty! Good luck to all of our players taking part this weekend #BleedBurgundy
You Make Change Updates
You Make Change update: Thank you as always for your ideas and queries. We look forward to receiving more submissions in the next two weeks!