Statement from the Exec team

Last week, an opinion piece was written in the Mancunion by a student about our President and Vice-Chancellor, Nancy Rothwell. This reflected the student’s own views, and we would like to clarify that the opinions on Nancy do not reflect the views of the Students’ Union. In that regard, the Students’ Union as publishers of Mancunian would like to apologise to Nancy for any offence caused.

As officers, we meet Nancy regularly (in some cases weekly), and though we do not always agree on everything, we have always had an open and constructive relationship. This is especially crucial due to the forthcoming changes to Higher Education.

As a team it is our role to ensure that the student voice is heard at every level of the University, and to hold the University to account. We ensure this by having a relationship defined by reciprocal respect. When challenges arise in the University, having an open dialogue with our Vice-Chancellor is key to amplifying the student voice. In our experience we have found her to be transparent and genuinely interested in the student body.

The role of student media is very important in holding the University and the Union to account, to air different views and we will always make sure this remains the case. We are very proud of volunteers who take the time to inform others on key issues and bring a great insight into student life.

We hope to both carry on our constructive relationship with Nancy and the University, whilst equally making sure our student media maintains appropriately open and unhindered journalistic opportunities for the student body.