12 minute read
Guild elections
from 718 // 23 Mar 2021
by Exeposé
Pete Syme
Deputy Editor
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LILY Margaroli was announced as 2021/22’s Guild President on Friday evening, beating second-place Lewis Martin by 675 votes.
With the restrictions of the pandemic preventing the usual Forum Hill campaigns and in-person debates, turnout fell by one per cent as 4,744 Exeter students made their voices heard.
Margaroli, the current Nightline President, addressed the reports of sexual assault on Streatham Campus in her speech: “In light of the news today, it’s clear that there are changes that need to be made. Right now, it’s important we look out for ourselves and our friends.” 3616 students voted for the role, with the preferential ballot system reaching six stages.
She also paid respect to her fellow candidates following a civil campaign: “Praise must go to every candidate - the respect and compassion shown throughout this has been incredible and I hope that this precedent can be taken forward to years ahead.”
A hate incident was filed with the
Lily Margaroli, 21/22 Guild President
police last year, following abuse towards candidates on anonymous confessions page Exefess.
Marion Ojua will become the Guild’s first Black Sabbatical Officer, having won the support of 1,277 voters in the competition for VP Liberation & Equality. Her manifesto points include refining the process to report discrimination and sexual assault, as well as ensuring “funding and support for diversity and inclusion projects is continuous”.
The position also saw the only instance of R.O.N. reaching the second stage.
Next year’s Athletic Union President will be Lacrosse Captain Katy Dalglish, who won at the first stage of voting. She has pledged to work closely with the Equality, Diversion and Inclusion team, as well as “bridging the gap between BUCS and intramural teams”.
After numerous appearances in the national media, Students For Academic Mitigation co-founder Bella Enoizi was elected VP Education with the widest margin of any position at 1,672. “Students need to understand where to get support from and how to get the most out of their experience”, she told Exeposé.
The VP Opportunities race was won by Drama student Izzy Harrison, whose pledges of diversity, safety and less bureaucracy proved to be popular with 1,376 voters. Her aims include shuttle buses at night and a “Night Walking Call Service” in collaboration with Nightline.
The winning College Officers are: Business: Prashant Nair; CLES: Manav Hartono; EMPS: Natalie Seal; Doctoral: Nadia Monaia; Humanities: Caroline Brodersen; Medicine & Health: Ferdinand Boucher and SSIS: Sho Taniyama.
Exeter’s six NUS Delegates will be Penny Dinh, Scarlett Hilson, Nathaniel Hall, Willow Lloyd Payne, Zuza and Raitieli Cabebula.
This year saw the Guild introduce incentives to encourage participation, with voters in with the chance of winning a Domino’s, Amazon or Deliveroo voucher. The first thousand were given a free sausage roll, but the higher offers of 25 Netflix subscriptions and ten Airpods will go unclaimed.
Current VP Activities Liv Harvey said of the results:
“We are delighted with the results of Friday’s election and look forward to inviting a full-female officer team and our first Black VP Liberation and Equality Officer to lead the Students’ Guild next academic year. Each manifesto was written with care and compassion for our student community and we are so excited for the year ahead and to see what this incredible team do.”
THE HISTORY OF ELECTIONS PAGe 8
Over £750,000 distributed through Success For All Fund
Emily Im
News Editor
DATA obtained using the Freedom of Information Act reveals that up to 15 January 2021, the University of Exeter had given out £757,000 to students via the Success For All Fund.
The University has received 934 applications since the Fund’s official introduction on 2 September 2020. 639 applications have so far been paid and only 26 applications were rejected. The remaining applications are either awaiting assessment, require a response from students due to insufficient information or have been closed because of duplicate applications.
The University did not reveal how much funding was currently available but stated that the majority of funding is taken from the University’s core budget and the government has given around £348,000 towards hardship. An article published by the University on 1 February also shows that donations from Exeter alumni and gifts from Santander Universities UK contribute to the fund.
it completely saved me from having to drop out
Student
Emergency financial support, under the now-closed Emergency Assistance Fund, was initially made available last spring during the first UK lockdown. According to University emails sent in April 2020, 250 applications were received within the first three weeks of its announcement. £370,000 was given to students in the 19/20 academic year.
One student who applied to the Fund told Exeposé: “I applied for living costs as I’m on the minimum loan and struggled to find a job this year. I get no help from my parents so had to come up with £4000 to afford my rent and needed living costs above that.
“Applying was very stressful and it took a long time to get a response. I’d say it took about two months. Every time I emailed about the application, I’d get an automatic reply. I later found out they had lost my application and only after Wellbeing looked into it for me did they realise this. It’s a bit annoying to apply for but it has made a huge difference to me. I think it’s plenty of support.”
Another student said, “I applied for the living costs allowance and it took just under six weeks. The process was pretty smooth although there was initially some problem with the form as it kept not working but they sorted it. It was just a tech error.
“I think the Fund is amazing and it completely saved me from potentially having to drop out. I was over the moon with what the University did for me.”
A spokesperson for the University said, ““So far this academic year we have given more than £1.13million to students and anticipate further applications for support over the remaining four months of the year.
“The Success For All Fund will remain permanent after the pandemic as a one-stop shop for student hardship and other financial support. We remain committed to supporting students in need, and their feedback shows the fund has been an important financial lifeline for them over the past year.
“We encourage all students in need to apply. They are able to make multiple applications, but previous payments made during the same academic year may be taken into account when assessing new requests for funds.”
Sunday Blake, Guild President, said, “Whilst we value the Success for All fund and its critical support for students during the pandemic, there is a wider concern nationally where the Government has not stepped up to distribute funds to HEPs. This week the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion to grant every full-time university student £500.
“In Wales, students were given £40million in hardship - to put that into perspective, the same amount here, per
University Spokesperson
Comment
Cassia Grace Isaac Bettridge
Henry Hood
2nd Year English
WHAT happens when you mix an unexploded bomb with a global pandemic?
Evidently, this was a burning question on many people’s minds, and we are now lucky enough to know the answer. It’s not everyday that an eight ft tall bomb is unearthed, and naturally there was lots of excitement about it when it was found. Ominous mass messages sent by the University were also a rare sighting, something we haven’t really seen since we were told to evacuate due to COVID-19 last year.
As someone who lived in Birks in first year, it was relatively amusing but also unsettling to know that many of my drunken pilgrimages to the 24-hour Subway went right past where the bomb lay. But for those who currently live in Birks it was a whole other story. I reached out to a friend of mine who lives in Birks, and they gave me the run-down of the events that unfolded. My investigative journalism rewarded me with a series of voice messages recorded mid-party in my friend’s flat, which I found rather fitting for the story they told.
Students were told to evacuate immediately, and were sent to the Great Hall to wait for further instructions. Since it was done alphabetically, some had to wait an hour for their ticket to a hotel, while others had to sit and wait for the whole day. They were then moved to said hotel, some in Exeter, some miles away from Birks. There was apparently a long wait outside the hotels, but once they were in my friend said they were very well looked after. My source tells me the waiting around was an excellent opportunity to get drunk, as was the mitigating circumstances and fun weekend holiday.
They had to buy their own lunch and dinner, but the University provided £360 to cover all this over the weekend away. Once the bomb had successfully shattered every window in Birks Grange, they were allowed to return to Exeter. Students were put up in various studio flats and provided with towels, blankets, and duvets and again my friend stressed how well they were looked after.
After another long wait in a marquee behind the van, my friend was allowed back into their selfcatered Birks room. For them, their experience was a relatively amusing and confusing one and certainly worthy of a dinner party story for many years to come. For others though, things were reportedly not the same. On various forums and anonymous confession pages, complaints were made by students who were told to “only bring their toothbrush and toothpaste” and were forced to “re-use their clothes for days on end”. Others, mainly the catered residents of Birks, are still not able to return to their rooms since most of the windows are still shattered. As always, there are two sides to any story.
Overall, the University seems to have done well to handle the situation. As my friend pointed out, there is no contingency plan for a bomb evacuation in the middle of a pandemic, so the University did well to come up with a strategy so quickly. The sheer number of hotels and buses used across a good chunk of Devon for the Birks students is impressive. And for those who felt the University did not do well, we can only hope there is now a contingency plan in place for next time.
Now all that needs to be done is for the sand to be removed…
Meg Allan
2nd Year English & Drama
AS we await the line-up announcement for this year’s summer of love, I look forward to July. When the newly coupled up, bronzed, Miss Pap-signed reality TV “stars” and “starlets” for better or worse, will step off the tarmac at Heathrow, and onto a social media platform which has sky-rocketed during their sabbatical to Spain.
Even in its hay day, the good, the bad and the beautiful that is the Love Island villa, was recognised for dealing in negative idealisation of body image and promoting a potentially lethal combination of sex, sexism and flawed priorities. A global pandemic, three lock downs and 12 months later, when stress, loss and change in lifestyle has affected both our priorities and bodies, I struggle to see Love Island transitioning particularly well into 2021. Lockdown itself has not covered previous years’ Love Island’s veterans in glory. Molly Mae Hague recently faced backlash for a rigged Instagram haul, whilst Zara Holland, Georgia Steele and Elma Pazar are among those who deemed themselves above national lockdown. To just touch upon body image, the likes of Zara McDermott and her unhealthy take on body positivity are themselves a virus on the impressionable on social media.
In days of yore, courting consisted of promenades and balls, now it is done scantily clad in a golden bikini, riding a mechanical bull whilst hollering out your body count in sunny Spain. Are the size four, chicken fillet filled bodies inhabiting the Love Island villa and our TV screens for the coming summer a fun escape and easy yet addictive watch spreading summer cheer, or do they represent and promote something much more sinister?
It is important however to acknowledge the positive effects brought to us from ex-villa inhabitants. Zara McDermott, though not a champion of body positivity, has recently released a documentary addressing the harm of revenge porn. Dr Alex, whilst unlucky in his quest for love in 2018, has risen in popularity since. Working front line during the recent pandemic, he has used his social media platforms to advocate the NHS’s performance and promote his role as Youth Mental Health Ambassador. 2017 Love Island alumni Camilla Thurlow has used her social media platform to advocate for the various charities she has worked with over the years (such as the Halo Trust and Safe Passage), and more recently to discuss issues facing new mums. Her recent book Not The Type is a recollection of navigating the most inhospitable places, both as an activist and reality star.
Having taken a shot at the potential harm done by reality stars, it would be remiss to neglect their own mental health. For many entering Love Island, the trajectory “zero to hero” is akin to a baptism of fire and many are unprepared for the scrutiny and attention they will receive when reunited with their phones. Love Island has experienced its own fair share of tragic losses. Early last year presenter Caroline Flack devastatingly took her own life, only a year after Mike Thalassitis, and, the year before, Sophie Gradon was reported to have overdosed. Whilst Love Island cannot be held accountable for these tragedies, it is a common theme, and should not be left ignored and unaddressed.
Is Love Island here to stay, or shall it prove to fade into a dated portrayal of irrelevant body types and fictitious relationships? Either way, you shall find me perched in front of Love Island this summer, armed with a cuppa and a healthy dose of cynicism.
And on that bombshell...
Image: Pixabay
