Aris Prevost, Cardiff Socialist Students candidate for student union president
With the 400 job cuts announced at Cardiff university, I’ve decided to run for student union president. I am standing as a socialist and as an activist, campaigning to fight back against the cuts.
I’m focusing on issues that affect students directly, such as getting more money in students’ pockets, and lobbying the university not to increase tuition fees.
What is the role of our student union? In recent years, motions that have been passed in our annual general meeting (AGM) have been ignored.
We narrowly passed a motion calling for the end of police stalls in and around the university – ‘cops off campus’. While it was passed, it immediately got swapped with a ‘review’ into the role of police stalls, instead of taking action. Two years on, the police still have stalls in our freshers fair. I’m campaigning to make the student union a proper union, instead of a business.
Outrage
Student elections are normally full of things which do not have a meaningful impact on student lives, like more VK vending machines. But with the backdrop of 400 job cuts, there is an air of outrage. Capturing this rage with a set of policies that resonate with students is key.
We need a socialist education system. We can be the start of something bigger.
