When I ask Sam Marks if he’d consider himself a big name on campus, he looks sheepish
“I would not,” he says. “When people are like, ‘oh, you know, Sam Marks!’….” He pauses and laughs.
“Sometimes I wish I knew Sam Marks.”
Indeed, the reputation precedes the man, and the reputation can seem larger than life.
How many University of Edinburgh students can say they’ve served as a School Representative, petitioned the Students’ Association over the closure of Teviot Row House, and successfully passed a motion calling for the resignation of University President and Vice-Chancellor Peter Mathieson?
There’s only one, and his name is Sam Marks.
Marks says he didn’t set out intending to be a politician, but the signs seem to have been there all along. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where politics was both “a spectator sport” and an integral part of his British father’s career as a journalist. In high school he became involved in Model Congress, a programme where students simulate drafting and passing legislation akin to the U.S. government. Marks says he started off shy, but gradually grew more confident, winning an award for Best Delegate at his final conference.
That confidence didn’t leave him as he came to Edinburgh to study history. Yet still, Marks engaged in other pursuits. It wasn’t until he reached a particularly low point in his second year that he felt motivated to run for History, Classics, and Archeology (HCA) Representative.
“I became kind of disillusioned with my degree,” he recalls. “I didn’t think I was getting as much out of it as I thought I would. I did actually even consider dropping out.”
Running for representative gave Marks a deeper purpose amidst a difficult time. He says he loved the thrill of campaigning: “It was so much fun.” Even more importantly, he says, “I liked the idea that, ‘Oh, I can be myself and go out there and try to advocate for change.’”
As the HCA Rep, Marks has advocated for the implementation of a flexible-learning week, the improvement of common room spaces, and the integration of joint honours students into the HCA school community. His progress has been well-documented on his flamboyant meme-filled Instagram page and through frequent emails, making him a fixture in the lives of the students he represents.
“He is constantly in my inbox,” a fourth-year student told me, but they were quick to add: “in a good way.”
“He’s very intense,” a third-year History student acknowledged, “but I appreciate it.”
“He takes our problems seriously and tries to make real change.”
Marks understands that students at Edinburgh rarely feel involved in University politics. One student I spoke to admitted they’d “never really heard of the HCA representative before him.” Marks’ own flatmates said they’d never voted in a EUSA election before, because, as Marks recalls them saying: “We don’t think they’re actually going to do anything.”
Despite this common sentiment, Marks still finds participating in student politics fruitful.
“I think the ultimate value of politics is not winning, it is about getting your voice heard and changing the way the conversation functions,” Marks told me. “If I only achieve one per cent of what I actually wanted to achieve, that’s one per cent better than what we started off with. That’s still progress.”
It would be remiss to say that Sam Marks would be content with just one per cent. He has aimed much higher than that.
In November, Marks submitted a motion calling for the resignation of Sir Peter Mathieson as the University of Edinburgh’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor. Among his reasons were student dissatisfaction, industrial action, spending habits, and lack of transparency. A few weeks later, the motion passed resoundingly, with more votes than any other motion in recent EUSA history.
Some have argued that EUSA cannot actually hold Peter Mathieson accountable. One of these critics is the 2022/23 EUSA President Niamh Roberts. In a statement arguing against the motion, Roberts said: “I wish that protest and a vote-of-no-confidence would carry weight with the senior leadership team, but it will in fact not.”
Marks is swift to push back against this argument. He says: “EUSA’s value is that it is the student union. It is representing the wider student opinion.” If students are deeply dissatisfied with the running of the university, he argues, this should be reflected in the position of their student union.
Yet it remains true that this change cannot be enacted by EUSA alone. Mathieson answers to the University Court, a corporate body responsible for the governance of the University. There are fifty members of the University Court, and only two represent the Students’ Association: four per cent of the vote.
Is the motion for resignation purely symbolic, then?
“I think this is both symbolic and also substantive,” Marks says. “This showed students coming together, in droves, voting for change they actually want to see.”
When asked directly if he believes Mathieson will resign, despite recently beginning a second five-year term as President, Marks is less concrete, but optimistic as ever.
“I’d absolutely like to see him resign… If the student union and students continue to rally behind these ideas, I have no doubt in my mind, there will be changes made to the University.”
Marks was (uncharacteristically) tight-lipped on the question of what comes next for him as he approaches his final year at Edinburgh.
“I have not committed to anything, politically, for next year,” he conceded after some pointed questioning.
Even after an hour of conversation, I still found myself intrigued by Marks. Is he a radical or an advocate? Are his goals idealistic or naïve? Is he overconfident or just confident enough to speak his mind? Your answer might depend on your tolerance for politics, but I found something admirable in his earnest dedication to challenging the status quo.
“At the end of the day, we have two voices on the Court,” Marks acknowledges. “Let’s use those voices. Let’s make them powerful voices.”
Above all, Marks seems immune to that sentiment which plagues the University of Edinburgh and its student body: indifference.
In his refusal to concede to apathy, Sam Marks stands alone. A big name on campus? Maybe. An important one? Indeed.
Illustration courtesy of Regan Donovan.