Vishnuu Nithiyananthan
A second-year Maths student and course-rep, Nithiyananthan is running to “make sure that all races are represented equally, and that students of all backgrounds feel that they have a voice within the Union.”
Whilst his manifesto is relatively general regarding his policies, he does state a belief that the Racial Equalities Committee should have a more active role, to spread their “message of toleration and inclusivity” with other areas of the student body.
Nithiyananthan told Vision that he feels that the Racial Equalities committee has “mountains of undiscovered potential”, whilst believing that, if elected, he could comfortably fulfill his manifesto pledges.
Itai Choto and Rohan Banerjee
The only pairing for this category, Itai Choto and Rohan Banerjee are both Politics students at the university, with Choto also studying International Relations. Friends from their first week at York, Choto is from Derwent and Banerjee is from Halifax.
They believe that they can provide the “dynamism and strong leadership” that the Racial Equalities role requires.
Their manifesto focuses on the vision of a “21st Century” university, where they will, if elected, “champion student protection and put the student right at the epicentre of University life”.
Rebekah Phiri
Studying PPE, Rebekah Phiri is in her second year at the university, holds the position of Co-President for African and Caribbean Society and in the past has been a speaker for a panel discussion on Black Identity in Education.
She wants to extend the work of the current Racial Equality Networks campaign, “working for inclusivity and encouraging students to take a more active role in campus life and politics”, whilst making it the network more centralised “for all cultural and faith societies to discuss and address issues faced by their members.”
She also aims to set up “specialised support networks that can arise for ethnic minority students”.
Asiya Elgady
Asiya Elgady is a second-year Sociology student. She told Vision that her reason for running is because “I really wish that this position didn’t have to exist, and that’s what I’m working towards – one day there will be no need for a racial equality officer because there’ll already be racial equality. But hey, one hurdle at a time right?”
Elgady says in her manifesto that she would like the university “to continue moving forward to a culture of open-mindedness and true acceptance.” Her plans outline an intention to establish bi-weekly drop-in sessions so that students “can come into the YUSU studio and get advice on their rights … regarding race relations or just for a chat”, as well as collaborating with campus media to “improve cohesion within the student body.”