The Equality and Inclusion officer role involves ensuring that students of all backgrounds are represented within the University. I asked him what his first step will be coming into the role.
Bland said: “I need to get familiar with all the systems, get to know the people that I’m going to be working with and then get to work!”
Bland said that one of his upcoming plans involves offering more English lessons to international students.
“A lot of international students are lonely, and the language barrier is a big reason for this,” Bland told me.
“There’s problems in group work, when there’s language barriers and that’s a barrier to education… I think the University has a responsibility to provide that language education.
“I want to work with the linguistics department because they’ve had some good schemes in the past like the language cafe, which did a lot of good.
The language cafe gave people the opportunity to come and practise new languages with native speakers. Teddy showed an interest in introducing a similar space where students of all nationalities could come together to practise their English.
Bland then spoke about the fact that a family member’s poor mental health or substance abuse issues are often unrecognised when trying to access student loans from the government. This can prevent students from getting the most out of their time at University, or from accessing a degree-level education altogether.
Bland said: “I want to raise awareness of how we think about barriers to education. It’s not always so clear-cut. Obviously, I don’t expect to change the world. I know that the student loan system is what it is; I can’t change that but it’s about raising a conversation that not everything can be put on paper.
“In terms of adverse childhood experiences, I want to first make a group…to hear what people bring forward about what, particularly traumatic, experiences from their home lives they think have held them back from coming to University.”
Bland currently lives with multiple international students. He’s listened to their personal experiences at the University, and has also been a part of the Welcome Team, which helps International Students from Manchester airport get settled in.
“I have to be careful because it’s not like I’m claiming other people’s experiences but where I come from [Oldham], I’ve met lots of diverse people so I think I know enough to represent those experiences [as the Equality and Inclusion Officer].”
Teddy Bland was elected into the position on 1st November, where 359 votes were cast by students at the University.