Hi! I’m Orion Hall-Turner and I’m running to be your next Vice President for Education. You might have seen me in the School of Arts as a Department Rep, or as a flat rep in Digby Stuart. I’ve loved my time at Roehampton and it would be an honour to be elected as VP Education.

Roehampton’s welcoming and fantastic community is a result of you, my fellow students. You’re what will help me make this University a place where every student can thrive long after they graduate. Here are my manifesto points:

Disabled Students

• As a Department Rep, I’ve worked to improve the student experience for people with disabilities. I set up the Disabilities Working Group in the School of Arts and I want to set up a Working Group in every department, where students and staff can share their feedback and suggestions. I’ll also work with the Disabled Students’ Officer and the Disabilities Team to make sure you can do your absolute best at Roehampton, whether you have a disability or not.

BAME Students

• The gap between achievements of BAME students and white students has narrowed, but it still has a huge impact: not only on your experience here at Roehampton, but also on your success in the jobs market once you’ve graduated. I will work with the Black and Asian Students’ Officers to see how best I and the University can address this attainment gap, which affects Black students the most, and join the Decolonising the Curriculum Working Group to help their vital work wherever I can. Crucially, I’ll work with BAME students and ambassadors to find the institutional barriers that have caused the attainment gap and address them together, so Roehampton can be a place where everyone can excel.

LGBTQ+ Students

• The LGBTQ+ community is incredibly important to me, and education is key to informing people about the societal issues that the community still faces. I want to bring in more LGBTQ+ guest speakers at events open to all, and introduce more educational panels and events aimed at beginners and experts alike. I’ll work closely with both the LGBTQ+ and Trans Students’ Officers to address the issues that are important to them, and make sure that learning is high-quality and, most importantly, safe, for every member of the LGBTQ+ community at Roehampton.

Online Learning

• Finally, I strongly believe that every student should have the choice to continue their degree on a blended learning model or entirely online if they’d like to. The pandemic has proved that for some students, online learning has been a blessing that has made education more accessible to them. That shouldn’t be taken away when we get to return to the “old normal”. I’ll work to ensure that this remains a viable and equal option for students, with more support than ever before and learning that fits you.

Thanks for reading and I hope you consider voting for me!