This week’s officer blog is a special one to commemorate the work we have been doing to celebrate Black History Month. You may have seen a lot of different things going on ranging from photographs, information boards, events and even graduate artwork.
You Vice-President, Dayo Odubonojo, has been working in conjunction with the Equality and Diversity department of the university in order to mark this important month in the best way possible.
During Welcome Week, your officer team managed to secure a photograph with notable people such as: famous journalist Nina Nannar, our new Chancellor of the University, Lord Stafford and former Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Mike Wolfe. This photograph was with our banner that was especially made for this month, #blackhistorymonthstaffs. The fact that these incredibly influential people stood with the Students’ Union in support of the month was a touching moment for everyone involved.
In the Students’ Union in Stoke, we have also had a graduate’s artwork showcased in the middle since the start of the month. Michelle Gregory’s ‘Sugar and Slavery’ is a piece of art that shows the molecular structure of sugar constructed using faux balls and chains. This is an incredibly powerful piece of work and we would like to thank Michelle for donating the art to us for one month. If you would like to come and see it, it will be here until the end of October.
Our radio station, OMG, has also decided to dedicate one of their amazing Transmission nights to commemorate Black History Month, and Dayo will be playing as Doctadee. See one of his videos ‘The World’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dk-Gq18_Pc
Speaking of OMG, one of the Management Team – Shalomi Cole - was asked to speak at BBC West Midlands radio to talk about the work that has been going on for BHM. This shows that the hard work has transcended to outside of the university, and we couldn’t be prouder.
If you would still like to get involved with what are we still have the information boards up in Cadman Library, however at some point this week we will be transferring them over to Stafford as they have been in Stoke for a week. This means both main campuses can see what has been happening.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to move ‘Sugar and Slavery’ over, as there is the risk of it being damaged.
The university has been running lots of online events, as well as talks etc. See more information here: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/assets/Black%20History%20Month%20Programme%202014_tcm44-79925.pdf
So that’s what we’ve been doing to commemorate Black History Month!
A couple of other things that have been happening are that we managed to secure funding for a joint venture with Keele University to support our campaign regarding the General Election later this year. This is incredibly exciting news, so keep your eyes peeled next semester for more information!
Also, this week we have a Student Market, this will be held on Tuesday from 10-5 in Henrion and it’s Halloween themed! So come down to buy some extremely early Christmas gifts or some little treats from fellow students.
The Diversity Fashion Show planning meetings have started, so if you would like to get involved, please contact union@staffs.ac.uk as we still have positions available for Front of House, backstage crew and models.
Employability fairs are coming up soon – 7th November in Stoke and 11th November in Stafford. So make sure you pop down and get some information!
That’s it from me so hope this has been informative and I’ll see you all soon!
Mel Ramsay
President
Staffordshire University Students' Union
College Rd, Stoke-on-Trent. ST4 2DE
Tel: 01782 294649
Twitter: @staffs_mel