Halifax College

It’s perhaps fair to say that Halifax wasn’t the first choice of accommodation for the vast majority of students who’ve ended up there; with the off-campus location, questionable housing quality, no bar and not even a department to speak of, it’s not hard to see why. Although, what the University’s largest college lacks in amenities, more than makes up for in the clichéd term that is “college spirit.” Even given the College’s size, it was still impressive that an event outside Freshers’ week, Take Me Out, could fill up L/N/028.

Speaking to the ‘Fax President (“Chairs” he says, “are things you sit on”), Davedass Mootanah, he is keen to stress what the College has achieved in the last 12 months, and it’s hard to argue against the fact that Mootanah has broadly delivered on his election promises. Granted, he was unsuccessful in bringing careers talks to JJs or promoting the bike rental scheme, and by his own admission a lot of the successes, such as the kitchen refurbishments, would have happened regardless of who was President. Notwithstanding, most criticism of Mootanaah is about style, stemming from his unique approach (which at best can be described as charismatic, and at worst, blunt and undiplomatic) rather than his competency as President.

What are your greatest achievements from your term as President?

Financial achievements have been great: We have achieved record amounts of sponsorship money for the college with a newly constructed sponsorship package. When the HCSA took office, there was £-400 in our main account (the lowest out of the college budgets) and it was a struggle at first to organise things that we wanted. This has been increased to over £10,000 in our main account as of December 1st, whilst still being able to put on a number of large-scale non-profit events such as Faxival. Next year’s committee will have a lot more freedom financially to invest in the college.

What are you greatest regrets from your term as Chair?

In a committee of nearly 50 people, not everyone is going to respond to you well if you tell them off for not doing something they were meant to do. Some people work better under personal encouragement whilst others work better if you make them aware of their responsibility in front of others. I’ve learnt that everyone can work efficiently, given the right approach you take with them.

Who has been your “Committee Superstar”?

For me, a “committee superstar” as you call it, is someone who is consistently involved and hard-working on the committee. Everyone can be enthusiastic, which is great of course, but everyone also has a degree to study. It’s that extra effort and support that goes a long way when everyone else is busy during exams, assignments or towards the end of the term. This is why several members on the committee stand out, in my opinion: Mark Young (Vice President of Services), George Offer (Younger Court Representative and new HCSA President), Andrew Wallace (Sports Officer), Chris Edwards (Halifax Ents Officer, now YUSU Ents Officer) and of course the one and only Neil “Doddbox” Dodd (Welfare Officer, and new HCSA Vice President).

What advice would you give your successor?

Always stay positive. Things may get tough and you will find it harder to count on others during exam period for example, but as long as you don’t doubt yourself and organise your time properly, you should be able to achieve what you want.

One of the outgoing Sports Officers Andrew Wallace also gave Vision his thoughts on the committee’s year: “A largely successful year for the committee which climaxed during Freshers week. Unfortunately some of the drive to improve the college petered out slightly this term. The president has made steps in the right direction through vast sums of sponsorship money and new events such as Faxival but there is still a lot more for George Offer to do in terms of kindling the college spirit. He will certainly have his work cut out promoting new high profile events and maintaining existing ones. I do not doubt his capabilities for a second and hope he has an enthusiastic committee to back him whole heartedly.”

To get the views on the street, as it were, Vision asked a handful of Halifax students what they thought of their committee.

First Year Tom Butler: “I’ve found the HCSA to have had a good influence and got lots of people out during Freshers’ and suggested a whole load of different things to do, I feel like JJ’s still need to be inproved though.”

Second Year Joe Cockerline: “The HCSA have played a major part in making everyone I know feel welcome and included in the college. Focus on sports, events like the first Faxival and generally promoting welfare and college spirit have really stuck out for me.”

Third year Aman Brar: “The HCSA are pretty much the first thing you see when arriving at Halifax. Students help you find your room/house, help you move in, and answer any questions, which really gives a great feeling of community spirit from the onset. This continues with the college organised STYC system and weekly events including the quiz and ‘Fax Off’ events to other cities – not to mention the huge number of Halifax organised campus events: huge names at Fresher’s week and highlights of Take Me Out and the college Snowball.”

Finally, we asked Mootanah to sum up his experience as Chair in three years. In what Vision believes to be a reference to the American rapper, and not the infamous drug trafficker from whom he took his name (although, really, it could be either), Mootanah replied:

Rick Ross – hustlin’