On Wednesday, February 14, I submitted my manifesto to run as a candidate EUSA
presidential election. My manifesto was focused on providing greater mental health support for students, creating more affordable opportunities for recreation, and, dependent on both these issues, raising the rate of student satisfaction to #1 in the United Kingdom. I was looking forward to the opportunity to campaign, and from my experience as the Undergrad Representative for History, Classics, and Archeology, I wanted to focus on aligning EUSA more with the voice of the student population of Edinburgh.
The lack of EUSA being aligned with the voice of the student body is why I aimed to run
for the Presidency. Current EUSA staff and sabbatical officers use the line that EUSA a “critical friend” to the University. In my time as a student at Edinburgh, I saw and still see the University management as abusive landlords, requiring EUSA to do more than consider them “friends”. I wanted to hold the University management accountable to the voice of students and transform EUSA student government from an afterthought in the minds of most students into a pillar of the community all Edinburgh students can rally behind.
Outside of my manifesto, there were three things I upheld as the most important aspects if
I were to stand for as serve as the President of the Student’s Association: If elected, I would not take a sabbatical from my studies, I would not accept a salary for my position, and I would not become a member of the EUSA corporate board of trustees. I would serve the EUSA presidency as a student in attendance of Edinburgh, getting the exact same experience as the entire student body, and advocating for the interests of the student body with no corporate strings attached. The student government would be a government of students, not sabbaticals.
After submitting my manifesto and attempting the declare a candidacy, I was sent an
email from EUSA requiring me to sign documents that I would accept trusteeship to the
corporate board if elected. I refused to sign them and wrote to the EUSA staff that I would not.
In a long email chain between myself and EUSA election staff, I was told to remove my
pledges to “no sabbatical, no stipulated salary, no special interests”, and a line from my
manifesto that I “…will accept no benefits that elevate me above the student population of
Edinburgh.” According to EUSA, this sentiment was not acceptable for a candidate to maintain, effectively admitting that the key figures we elect to serve in our student government are placed on pedestals. I was not campaigning for a pedestal; I aimed to provide all students a necessary and justified seat at the decision-making table we have been excluded from. And that starts with ensuring the student government is made up of actual students.
In the end, I did not sign any of these documents. On 12:00 noon February 16th , the time
frame I had to sign them had expired, ensuring I would not be a candidate in the upcoming
election. I have no interest of surrendering my studenthood to serve on the board of a
corporation, receive a £30,000 salary while other students remain homeless, and take a year out from my studies while giving up my friends in my year and school. I got involved in student government because of the student-led community at Edinburgh where I could be myself, not because of a corporation where I would have to repeat their taglines. If we have to compromise our ability to be students in order to be a part of EUSA, there needs to be some serious change to the way we elect our student government and the expectations we have of it.
If all my Uni work goes accordingly, I will be attending graduation at the end of next
year. I’m thankful to say I’ll be able to walk across the same stage as my friends, receive my
degree, and celebrate with them on the same ground, rather than sitting on stage watching my friends go by from above.
Sam Marks portrait by Regan Donovan
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Why I’m Not Running for the EUSA Presidency
On Wednesday, February 14, I submitted my manifesto to run as a candidate EUSA
presidential election. My manifesto was focused on providing greater mental health support for students, creating more affordable opportunities for recreation, and, dependent on both these issues, raising the rate of student satisfaction to #1 in the United Kingdom. I was looking forward to the opportunity to campaign, and from my experience as the Undergrad Representative for History, Classics, and Archeology, I wanted to focus on aligning EUSA more with the voice of the student population of Edinburgh.
The lack of EUSA being aligned with the voice of the student body is why I aimed to run
for the Presidency. Current EUSA staff and sabbatical officers use the line that EUSA a “critical friend” to the University. In my time as a student at Edinburgh, I saw and still see the University management as abusive landlords, requiring EUSA to do more than consider them “friends”. I wanted to hold the University management accountable to the voice of students and transform EUSA student government from an afterthought in the minds of most students into a pillar of the community all Edinburgh students can rally behind.
Outside of my manifesto, there were three things I upheld as the most important aspects if
I were to stand for as serve as the President of the Student’s Association: If elected, I would not take a sabbatical from my studies, I would not accept a salary for my position, and I would not become a member of the EUSA corporate board of trustees. I would serve the EUSA presidency as a student in attendance of Edinburgh, getting the exact same experience as the entire student body, and advocating for the interests of the student body with no corporate strings attached. The student government would be a government of students, not sabbaticals.
After submitting my manifesto and attempting the declare a candidacy, I was sent an
email from EUSA requiring me to sign documents that I would accept trusteeship to the
corporate board if elected. I refused to sign them and wrote to the EUSA staff that I would not.
In a long email chain between myself and EUSA election staff, I was told to remove my
pledges to “no sabbatical, no stipulated salary, no special interests”, and a line from my
manifesto that I “…will accept no benefits that elevate me above the student population of
Edinburgh.” According to EUSA, this sentiment was not acceptable for a candidate to maintain, effectively admitting that the key figures we elect to serve in our student government are placed on pedestals. I was not campaigning for a pedestal; I aimed to provide all students a necessary and justified seat at the decision-making table we have been excluded from. And that starts with ensuring the student government is made up of actual students.
In the end, I did not sign any of these documents. On 12:00 noon February 16th , the time
frame I had to sign them had expired, ensuring I would not be a candidate in the upcoming
election. I have no interest of surrendering my studenthood to serve on the board of a
corporation, receive a £30,000 salary while other students remain homeless, and take a year out from my studies while giving up my friends in my year and school. I got involved in student government because of the student-led community at Edinburgh where I could be myself, not because of a corporation where I would have to repeat their taglines. If we have to compromise our ability to be students in order to be a part of EUSA, there needs to be some serious change to the way we elect our student government and the expectations we have of it.
If all my Uni work goes accordingly, I will be attending graduation at the end of next
year. I’m thankful to say I’ll be able to walk across the same stage as my friends, receive my
degree, and celebrate with them on the same ground, rather than sitting on stage watching my friends go by from above.
Sam Marks portrait by Regan Donovan
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