Five students that are more representative than Malia Bouattia

I am pretty sure that many of you won’t have known who Malia Bouattia was before the start of this week. She has just been elected the first black female president of the National Union of Students in its 94-year history. I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word NUS, I think of discounts and disaffection.

It is the last place I look for when it comes to representation. It is an organisation that has provided next to no support for me in my time at university, and one that I am not interested in engaging with because of it. I understand that the NUS does provide services and support for student unions, but with unions in a state of crisis due to low voting figures and high disengagement, I wonder whether this appointment means anything at all.

It is an organisation that has provided next to no support for me in my time at university

There has been a lot of controversy when it came to these elections, with Miss Bouattia accused of being a terrorist sympathiser and anti-Semite. These conclusions are at worst petty and at best unimportant.

This may be a milestone for the NUS, but I believe it is going through the most damaging period of its history, with petty squabbles over everything from safe space allocation, no-platforming to representation amongst its own members. And so fewer and fewer students actually care about the future of the organisation. It seems to be going backwards.

It is the last place I look for when it comes to representation

I can shed some light on this. The language that many people use in union, and wider national student politics is alienating. For me, the real concern is with the NUS “Black” Students committee, which Miss Bouattia has been in office for the past two years.

It claims to represent those from “African, Asian, Arab and Carribean descent”, but insists on using the word black as an identifier. This is fundamentally unsettling for me. I do not identify as a black student, and I don’t believe the majority of non-white students would either – and so by colouring the one committee that is supposed to represent me, it defeats the point.

It insists on using the word black as an identifier

It makes it about colour and representation to me isn’t about the surface level. This is just one example of many that I could talk about in liberation, mental health and education. It just doesn’t speak to ordinary students.

So rather than looking to the NUS for representation and role models, and rather than giving Miss Bouattia any more publicity that she has already garnered, I wanted to change tact and focus on the other ethnic minority students you might not know about that are representing you in a much better way.

Representation to me isn’t about the surface level

These are the people that deserve your respect and admiration. I am not saying that Miss Bouattia doesn’t, but when she is writing motions on tackling ISIS and the Israel-Palestine conflicts (issues she has absolutely no authority or power to change) rather than focusing on issues that are affecting students every day, I feel like they should get some recognition too.

Meet Bejay Mulenga. At only 19, and having not gone to university, he is now running a social enterprise programme that has been featured in national politics and helped to raise £35,000 for his local borough to build studio space for young people.

Supa Academy, borne out of Supa Tuck – a 21^st century tuck shop idea, has won awards and he was named one of the most connected men in Britain by GQ magazine in 2016. He is only one of the two under the age of 20.

Having not gone to university, he is now running a social enterprise programme

Meet Timothy Armoo. One of Warwick’s own, and part of an award-winning interview that was written by the Boar. Fanbytes, helps brands to run social influence campaigns on social media – he is literally working in one of the most exciting and most lucrative spaces in the world right now…and he might even be sitting opposite you on Floor 4.

Part of an award-winning interview that was written by the Boar

Meet Nadiya Hussain. I know you probably won’t forgive me for this one, and she is 31, but I think the point remains the same. She is an Open University part-time student, alongside being a mother, best-selling author, columnist and is now a regular on television.

You may think that it is just baking cakes, but this is an unashamedly Muslim woman in a hijab getting prime time mainstream television – something that we shouldn’t scoff at. And she just baked a cake for the Queen’s 90^th.

An unashamedly Muslim woman in a hijab getting prime time mainstream television

Meet Chanté Joseph. With students and young people at an all-time high in clocking volunteering hours in the UK, she is leading the charge. Currently studying Social Policy at Bristol University, she is a trustee on the British Youth Council and has been an MYP for two years.

On top of that she is an alcohol advertising campaigner, tackling Britain’s university “drinking culture” from the ground up – a huge problem that is often forgotten.

A trustee on the British Youth Council and has been an MYP for two years

And finally, meet Gulwali Passarlay, an Afghan refugee. Studying Politics at Manchester, he came to the UK in 2006 not speaking a world of English. He is now the bestselling author of The Lightless Sky and carried the Olympic Torch for London 2012.

He has used his influence and platform to promote education and the positives of immigration – a vital message at a time of real terror for many immigrants, especially refugees, in the UK.

An Afghan refugee, studying Politics at Manchester, he came to the UK in 2006 not speaking a world of English

All these people are of different colours, genders, shapes and sizes. What this shows is that the NUS is not a representation of some of the best students and young people around. Don’t be fooled by these mindless debates and arguments, when the best work is happening well outside of the reach of unions.

And it usually involves individuals that are breaking their own backs to do it amongst other commitments – these are the brilliant individuals that I feel represented by and I hope that they continue to get the praise that they deserve. I hope they inspire you to rise about the politics and do something innovative.

NUS is not a representation of some of the best students and young people around

Let’s face it, the NUS is a bit shit. They just passed a motion on giving student media the opportunity to put out fair coverage on Union elections and it is 2016. Not only this, but the paid staff always have a few words to say when I have been at a conference, and they are the real danger, because they are unelected.

Paid staff… are the real danger, because they are unelected

Miss Bouattia has done well and I wish her the best of luck. But just because Malia is the first black Muslim woman to achieve the highest position is not enough, a milestone is just that – a rock. What we need is people who are lighting the path instead, not just simply standing in front of it.