Communities & Equality Officer

Khurram Usman

I am a PhD student, and my research is in Law. I am also the currently the incumbent President of The Diplomatic Hub. It’s an amazing opportunity to work with the uni students who come from different parts of the world to understand their narrative and think what we can do better for them. I am qualified from Pakistan, and I came to the UK, where I did an LLM and now I am doing a PhD.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO BE communities & equality officer?

I have an Asian background and I come from a place which was part of colonies for some time. When you come from this part of the world, you interact with the West so there is a big gap between the understanding of the people. So, if someone turned up from these communities, they would represent them and that could make a big difference at the uni. They could express the views of the students in a manner that explains how these communities think, or what we need to make better institutions. These are students who will come from different communities. They will feel better, and it will create a more inclusive society rather than a divisive society. Division is a big problem in the world; people see each other from their colour, their language, and their background, but they do not see the human being.

how will you ensure all groups and communities are represented by the guild?

what do you think is one underrepresented group which the guild could be doing more to support?

For the past year working in the World Society, I got experience in how to engage the views of students. It’s really difficult to accommodate them, but I will show flexibility. I will give them honour; I will listen to them and provide them with full opportunities that they should take on. You invite the students and say “okay, we are working on this task” or “we are working together”; you will take the lead and they will follow your instructions. So, in this way, you will accommodate other people, you will build their trust. You will help and work with them, and this is a way of engaging people.

I think that the Guild should focus on master’s students because they come to university for one year, and they are financially squeezed because Exeter is a difficult and expensive place in terms of accommodation. The Guild should focus on how they can engage these students. They are working part-time and are coming to uni classes and when they start working outside, they will lack the focus on their studies and will often not turn up to lessons. So, they should think about how they can improve their experience and help them focus on their modules, whilst creating a more inclusive society and giving them more opportunities.

What is your BIGGEST WEAKNESS?

I can feel the pain of other people. When we see a dilemma or disaster, such as the War in Ukraine where people were just running away. It was a terrible moment to witness. It is very difficult for me when I see something bad happening and people are crying but I’m not able to help them. It’s very big weakness of mine where I want to accommodate and help people, but I cannot do that.

What is your MOST MEMORABLE NIGHT OUT IN EXETER?

Last month, we invited the Spanish Ambassador to Exeter. He came here and we talked with him about his experiences as a seasoned diplomat for forty years. We walked around the city with him, and it was very nice. We also introduced many students to him at a networking event. I think that’s the best experience that I’ve had in Exeter so far.