A Private Audience with the President

Running for a second term as Association President, Pat Mathewson is in a unique position in this year’s Student Election. I sat down with him before the campaigning starts to find out exactly how he felt the year so far has gone, and why he is so keen to stay on in the role. And to ask him what his favourite Disney movie is (The Lion King, of course).

Since being voted into office last year, Pat has made great headway with his policies from 2014. I asked what he felt had been the greatest accomplishment since taking on the role.”I think it’s the real value added to the student experience- we got the nightbus running 7 nights a week- this is a substantial change, with 100s of students using it every day. In April a new employability programme starts where every student will be paired with an employability adviser from day one. These are the things which make the biggest difference.”

Considering recent events, one of my first questions was of course regarding the housing crisis. However Pat sees the current student reaction as something positive. “The protest is a wonderful asset for those of us that are going into meetings and arguing for the topic. In the last 6 months, we’ve made significant progress. I successfully lobbied for nearly half a million pounds of new accommodation bursaries across the next two years.”

More importantly, Mr Mathewson doesn’t mind us knowing that he is actually also a victim of said crisis- “I’m in the same position- if I win, I don’t have a house. This is why if i’m re-elected I’ll roll out my new policy- Caravans on West Sands. I’ll be building a series of tents.”

Though this may seem somewhat unlikely as a policy, Pat’s top priority really is student accommodation. He explained the idea behind his first policy: 1500 beds in 15 months. “the university is currently reviewing several business cases for building new accommodation. It’s something I’d like to follow through on”

Not only this, but Pat also hopes to further previous ideas by working to make sure that the Student’s association and the Union building are not just something used by a small section of the student body- “It’s the student’s association, not some student’s association.” He also believes that we have to make sure everyone has access to all aspects of University life- “We need to give all our students the same level of support. Saints Sport gave out two bursaries this year, and we can do better than that.”

If I learnt anything from speaking with Pat, it was how much he would value staying on into a second term in order to continue with work he has started.

“You have to fight just as hard, if not harder if you’re running for a second term- to be complacent is absolutely unacceptable. Everything we get successfully is through partnership, and that only comes out of established relationships which work over time.”

“I wouldn’t be asking for a second term if I didn’t think these things were so important.”

It’s certainly worth considering the work which Pat has done thus far for the student’s of St Andrews, and what still needs to be achieved by the Student’s association. Realistically Pat admits that many of the most pressing issues are problems which can only have long term solutions, but he is also passionate about seeing them through as far as he can.

In other news, Pat thinks that if he could be a dinosaur he would probably be a Pterodactyl, and his favourite colour is red. He has also accepted the invitation to sleep in the stairwell of my flat next year as a last resort, although if anyone has any better offers I’m sure he would be happy to hear from you.