Meet our Campus Celebrities for the Week, Women’s Officers Emma and Emma!
Hey girls! So what made you want to get involved with the Women’s Network and run to be Women’s Officers?
Emma E: Well, I’ve always been a feminist and have been interested in women’s rights, so when I came to university I didn’t want to give that up. I ran for the position of General Committee Member in my first year and got it and then have been Women’s Officer for the past two years!
Emma Q: Well to be honest, I didn’t really know much about feminism before meeting Emma. It isn’t really a thing in the Netherlands, where I’m from, and I’ll admit I was skeptical at first. But then Emma told me about some of the issues that feminists fight for and how there are so many messed up things in our society. And here I am now!
Emma E: I’m so proud!
What have you achieved so far this year?
Emma E: One of the more concrete things we’ve managed to achieve this year is getting more lighting on campus in spots that were known for being dark. Sarah Pickup and Sam Peake helped support this and it’s a change that will benefit a lot of people.
Emma Q: We’ve also managed to have a good conversation with the university about who we are as a Network and what we need from them to help make us more visible and accessible.
Who can be part of the Women’s Network?
Emma Q: We’re currently updating our definition of who can be part of the Women’s Network because we realised that the old definition unintentionally excluded a lot of people.
Emma E: So, as a Network we are trans and intersex inclusive, including people with complex gender identities that include ‘woman’ and/or those who experience oppression as women, if they wish to join us!
What have you got planned for the rest of the year?
Emma Q: We’re hoping to run a lecture series given by a variety of different speakers and on variety of different topics to make this as intersectional as possible. This hopefully will coincide with International Women’s Day, which is on the 8th March. We also want to hold some film screenings, with tea and cake, so people can come and have a chat and get to know us!
Emma E: We also want to sort of rebrand the Network and make it clear that we are a support Network for those who need it and take a step back from campaigning. We’re working on all of this in the coming weeks so stay tuned!
Is there anyway people can get more involved?
Emma Q: You can follow our pages on social media! Our Twitter is @UoNSU_Womens and our Instagram is uonwomensnetwork. You can like our Facebook page, University of Nottingham Women’s Network or join our group which has the same name.
Both: Candidate Academy! We’re both in our final year and need someone, or two people, to take over the role of Women’s Officer and by going to Candidate Academy on the 30th January you can find out more about the Student Leader Elections and how you could run to be Women’s Officer.
Emma E: Oh and also we’ll be around the Portland Building on Monday and Tuesday (we’re in the grey jumpers!) for Refresher’s fair so if you fancy a chat, just come and say hi!