March 2009

Apologies for the late publication of the next few blogs… a family bereavement and subsequent time off led to these blogs being left in their folder and forgotten about for the past couple of months… blogs are the last thing on your mind at such times!

The first few months of the new year have disappeared in a flash... as to be expected with the start of conference season. UK Women’s Conference had countless pairs of eyes on it, with many focussed on the big election of the day... who would be the new NUS UK Women’s Officer?? For me the best candidate won (well done Liv), but we must also celebrate a strong looking committee for 2009/10, with a good mix of valuable experience and fresh enthusiasm. The second NEC place seemed to slip some people’s minds and Estelle Hart stood unopposed. Luckily I know she is an excellent candidate, from having worked with her on NUS Wales and NUS UK Women’s Committees for the past couple of years. You will struggle to find many more people who are as passionate and dedicated to fighting the women’s campaign fight.

On the subject of strength in Wales, we delivered the biggest Welsh delegation for many years, with representatives from Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Coleg Gwent, Swansea Met and Swansea Uni, as well as myself and Estelle as Women’s Committee. Whereas this may not seem a lot to some, this is a vast improvement on the two or three welsh delegates in previous years, and it’s certainly not bad at all when there are relatively small numbers of unions in Wales, with many uninterested or disengaged with the UK liberation campaigns.

The delegates that did attend were awesome, and certainly left me feeling inspired. My first UK women’s conference was in 2005, whereas all but one of the welsh delegates this year were there for the first time. For one it was her first ever experience of an NUS conference.

It’s hard to predict how people are going to react to their first time at conference, an arena that can inspire or disengage, processes that can confuse the most experienced of delegates, elections that can lead to healthy competition or the most unhealthy of atmospheres. I think we generated a great team spirit within the welsh group, and everyone certainly enjoyed themselves. Welsh delegates have gone back to their unions, inspired to campaign, to make a difference for women, even in the unions where liberation campaigning is frowned upon.

That’s the great thing about NUS, about collectivism, about our liberation campaigns in particular. Women’s Conference provides that safe, autonomous space for women students to organise, to debate and discuss, to feel confident to speak their mind. For many of us it is easy to do this in our unions; some of us may be from very pro-liberation SUs and others will simply not care what the sexists say! However, for a number of our members, they are in unions that may talk about promoting equality and diversity, but actually foster an environment where under-represented groups are discouraged from organising, stopped from campaigning and silenced when they try and speak. This is why liberation conferences are so important. They allow these students to feel part of wider picture, to feel part of a team of individuals whose politics may vary, but all of whom are fighting for liberation and equality.

I take my hat off to these delegates, many of whom had to fight to even get to this conference, because a few male presidents didn’t think it would be worth their while and that they wouldn’t enjoy it! These delegates are my inspiration for 2009, they are the people who are still fighting in the hardest of arenas, who NUS must strive to support. On a final note, the prize for the longest ever leaving speech goes to Katie Curtis, who had several of us in tears before she even started. It may have gone on for a while, but a mixture of stand-up comedy, sexual innuendos and sentimentality made it a bloody good end to conference! Katie Curtis is one of the most committed, hard working and passionate members of the student movement that I have ever come across. I had the pleasure of meeting her three years ago, at NUS summer training, in a year where we would be two of the few female SU presidents in HE. It wasn’t easy being feminist presidents, especially when you think back to some of the ‘characters’ who were around in SUs at that time. KC made a difference for her students and went on to make a difference for many of your students during her year on the block. She even found the time and energy to give us a hand in the nations, first defending the NUS Wales Women’s Officer in north Wales and then defending a woman’s right to choose in south Wales. She has been an awesome advocate for students’ rights and for women’s rights – I can’t imagine an NUS without her. KC you’re a legend.

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