Name: Nick Russell
Year: 2
Degree: History
Home county: Kent
What society are you part of and what is your role within it?
I am part of the He for She society which is a gender equality society within St Andrews and I am the male co-president.
You always have a male and female co-president?
Yes. Its really important within our society because He for She is about getting more men involved in the gender equality debate but its also about getting gender equality in general. So targeting this idea of male masculinity so not only helping women but also helping men, making everyone equal.
How did you get involved?
I have some friends who are in other gender equality societies and I was looking to get more involved in it. So they suggested I go along to one of the events and they were looking for committee members, so I went for it and I got the position and i’ve really enjoyed it.
How are you connected to the other He for She chapters?
We are not affiliated with the UN but we have a link with the UN. So one of our committee positions, they have a channel to the UN where they can chat to them about it. We’ve got a few people on committee that have connections to other He for She chapters as well.
What do you like about your role?
I enjoy the fact that I can try and make a difference within St Andrews and its put me into different situations that I never had the chance to previously because i’m part of canoe, I’m quite sporty so I never really experience the other side. Its quite nice to be part of this society where i’m going out and talking to people I wouldn’t normally talk to and also doing something, well, something good and trying to change people’s attitudes.
How would you recommend our her campus readers get involved in He for She?
Come along to the events. Share them with friends. Get as many people interested about coming along as possible. The thing is about He for She is that its not about “oh, come along to our society”, you can do it yourself by challenging certain ideas that people have about how they can act when really they can’t. So its about standing up for what we believe, which is gender equality. Everyone like to think that we’re a developed country so we’ve got it but really we haven’t. And yeh, it might not be as bad as other areas in the world but we could still be doing a lot more.
Our events are all published on Facebook (Provide link) , I believe Instagram as well. But it can be as simple as having a conversation with your friends over dinner. It doesn’t have to be anything massive.
Favourite book: What is History? by E.H. Carr
Favourite movie: The Grand Budapest Hotel, followed very closely by In Bruges because I love Ralph Fiennes
Favourite place in St Andrews: Probably East Sands, as a kayaker.
Something on your St Andrews bucket list: I wouldn’t mind taking part in a play in St Andrews.
Plans for the future/ dream job: At the moment my plans for the future in St Andrews are to help He for She grow but also to get into climbing, do some mountaineering because I really enjoy the outdoors here. A job for the future, I think i’m looking at the armed forces, maybe go into the navy or something like that.
Dream vacation: This would involve me becoming a better kayaker but it would be for me to go to New Zealand and paddle some of the amazing rivers they have there.
Three things you can’t live without: Kayaking, going for walks and cooking.
Guilty pleasure: spices, I love playing and experimenting with spices.