My name is Tyler Williamson (they/them) and I am delighted to be running for President of Community, Diversity and Inclusion this year.

I strongly believe the Students Union should represent the diverse community that is within our university. As someone who has been a part of the LGBT+ community since a teenager, it is at the heart of my ambition as your representative to ensure everyone’s voices are heard. To truly represent our Student Union and University as a diverse community, I want to help make a difference for all students.

Engaging with the BAME network of students at Christ Church is an aim of mine, so there can be a strong connection to the Student Union. This will lead to better opportunities and representation of a diverse group of students within the Student Union, like fulfilling roles within the Union Council. Also, keeping the student community aware of various racial inequality issues, such as the black attainment gap, can encourage further education not only for the students, but for the Student Union team and staff at University.

Accessibility for all students is also important in my role and I want to build a strong connection with the disabled student community of CCCU, to ensure that our campus facilities are up to high standards – from bathrooms to classrooms. As well as supporting accessibility of the city of Canterbury, with opening a line of communication to businesses in the city and encouraging students to flag up accessibility issues.

Being the President of CCCU’s LGBT+ Society for two years, I have witnessed the wonderful queer community and listened to their experiences of university life as queer students. Within this role, I have also learnt about the hardships many LGBT+ students face in day to day academic and social life – which clearly demonstrated to me that something needs to change and I want to continue to be a part of making this happen! Through encouraging political movements and activism I want to build upon the work of previous Student Union presidents, like the Reclaim The Streets protest. I want to increase the interaction with activism, to promote our Student Union as an active community that contributes to the strive towards positive change. For example, promoting activist guest speakers and continuing the Student Union’s presence at marches and protests around Canterbury – that not only affect our student community, but also wider society. I would also like to push the Sabb and Student Union presence at protests outside of Canterbury, like larger events in London, once again to highlight CCSU as a positively active hub.

As someone who identifies as trans and non-binary, I aim to raise awareness and educate the Students Union and university as a whole on issues surrounding transgender, gender diverse and LGBT+ people. My own experience has taught me that Trans students still face unfair levels of discomfort after joining university. Whether being openly discriminated against simply due to the nature of their being, to the stressful process of having to change their name on their Student ID. No individual should be made to feel lesser and I intend to stand behind those students who feel they have no voice. I want to make meetings available with the Wellbeing services and the trans student body so exact needs can be met and constructive criticism and education can be encouraged in a healthy, safe setting. To improve the welfare of our students, we need to listen to their voices. Not only from my own experience as a student, but the amplification of others. This will help open up a line of communication, so the Student Union can fully understand what we can do to support these individuals whilst studying at Christ Church.

Better access to mental health support is something I want to work on and highlight for students at Christ Church, as I know from experience how difficult it can be to have our needs properly met in a timely fashion. I would like to have strong connections with the Wellbeing Team, as well as supporting and promoting various projects like “Report and Support” and “Expect Respect.”

With further discussion and promotion, I want to make support plans between lecturers and students more accessible for those struggling with their mental wellbeing – providing clear guidelines and help guides for those who are trying to seek out further support through the university with their mental health. The Wellbeing team is a great support line, but the Sabb team can work alongside it to make it the best experience for those who reach out. To aid the mental health of the Student Union societies and sports teams through campaigns and appropriate signposting, we can ensure that these groups remain healthy and thriving for the wider student community.

I also wish for all of these goals to be achieved not only on our Canterbury campus, but at Medway - to encourage a stronger connection between the two campuses!

Thank you for reading this and I hope to be your future President.