‘I want Sussex to be as colourful as possible’: The Tab Sussex talks to SU candidate Irati Michel

Irati Michel is a third year Accounting and Finance student from Mozambique, whose main aim is "to showcase the diversity we have at Sussex". If elected, he aims to focus on improving the university experience of each and every student regardless of race, backgrounds, nationality or gender, with a particular consideration of international students.

His other manifesto policies include creating a Students' Union app with interactive platform for clubs and society members, lobbying the university to serve as guarantor to multiple students, and campaigning for the use of Co-op discount with Student ID rather than NUS cards.

You list 18 points in your manifesto. Which do you aim to achieve first or would you prioritise?

Speaking to The Tab Sussex, Irati says that he aims to prioritise diversity, with the specific focus of improving the experience of international students, as he feels that often international students do not have "the opportunity to showcase their experiences and their culture".

As the current President of International Students Society and an International Student Ambassador, Irati feels very passionate about issues that affect international students. He states that "there is so much we can explore in terms of other people's cultures and making Sussex more Global".

Irati aims to focus on making the experience of every student at Sussex better, regardless of their gender, religion, ethnicity & background. In his manifesto he states his intentions to 'look at ways to empower women and international students' and to increase the vegan options throughout Students Unions shops and bars. Overall he states " The thing I want to achieve is showcasing diversity but also by being available, I want to make Sussex better by asking the students themselves."

You state that you want to create platforms that can improve communications between staff and students, and vice versa – how would you go about this?

Speaking to The Tab Sussex, Irati said "I think it’s the basic right to get our questions answered, and I am aware that some lecturers are available, and accept meetings, but I want to try to find a way to make it uniform, so that every lecturer is available a few hours a week."

How do you plan on decreasing tuition fees and rent?

Irati says he understands that this is something that is out of his control, but argues that "by having a strong personality and holding talks with different student unions, maybe I could achieve something, especially on the international side, when it comes to tuition fees. Because those are substantially higher than national fees."

The candidate then went on to explain that he feels as though the topic of tuition fees is predominantly discussed at a national level rather than an international level.

Irati also says that he intends to combat the fight against high tuition fees in phases, and that he "is aware that it does take time and isn't something that can happen over night". As for decreasing rent, Irati states that he plans to "talk to the vice chancellor and anyone that can help".

How do you propose the university will source the money to expand its guarantor scheme and improve the bus route to campus, whilst also fighting for cheaper rent and tuition?

Irati states that he is aware that this is something that he cannot carry out by himself and hence he intends to "delegate responsibility for different things".

The candidate went on to say that "Questions regarding money are important and need to be answered, but unfortunately I do not have all the answers now. It is a huge problem that does need to be solved".

Having a guarantor to secure housing can prove to be difficult challenge for many students, particularly in the case of international students. Irati intends to improve this by lobbying for the university to increase the number of people that they can act as guarantors for.

He additionally tells us that he will talk to landlords to investigate whether they could consider students' records and history of how they pay rent as proof that they student will not fall back on paying rent if they cannot secure a guarantor.

As for a better bus route into campus, Irati intends to lobby for new bus routes to campus such as the Big Lemon buses, and "will try and meet with the Brighton and Hove council to work out whether a bus route can be worked out just for students".

In your Manifesto you state that you want to introduce a Student Union app. Do you think that this will clash with the Sussex app? How do you plan on overcoming that?

Irati quickly answered that he doesn't think it will clash with the Sussex app. "I want the app to far off from academics as much as possible. I want it to be a platform to share events and you can see events of other societies. We have a little section on the Sussex uni app, but there is so much more going on than what is shown there."

In your manifesto you state that you intend to lobby for Co-op discounts with Student ID cards rather than NUS cards. How will you go about that?

"I understand that Co-op has an agreement with the NUS. I also understand that the Students' Union holds the agreement with the Co-op. I want to ask for Sussex specifically to have the prices reduced, and I feel like this is possible because we hold the agreement with coop."

While Irati does recognise that this change could seem redundant to some, he maintains that it would be beneficial to students.