President Frog or President Pirate?
Sheffield Students’ Union’s Officer Elections are underway, with voting opening on March 21. They have 46 candidates across the six full-time SU roles, with nine candidates for the lead role of SU President.
One of these is Captain Brownbeard, seemingly masquerading as a pirate, who’s manifesto states a key aim of theirs is “putting the ship back on course”.
Another candidate is Smoochie, a stuffed toy frog with some unusual ideas, including all SU outlets playing CharliXCX’s Brat at all times and lowering the cost of Freddos to just a penny.
Additionally, Sheffield Students’ Union has an a referendum on “Should Sheffield Students’ Union express ‘No-Confidence’ in the University Executive Board?” coming up. This is following a different vote where 93.3% of staff and postgraduates voted that they had No-Confidence in the University’s senior leadership.
Doctor Stormzy
Rapper and singer-songwriter Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr, commonly known as Stormzy, is set to be awarded an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Cambridge on the June 25. This second honorary degree is being given in recognition of his philanthropic work.
This is his second honorary degree, having received his first from the University of Exeter in 2022.
Stormzy has worked with the University of Cambridge since 2018 on the Stormzy Scholarship. This initially included funding for two Black students a year, with plans for funding to expand to cover more students.
Major staff cuts
Students at the University of East Anglia (UEA) are being warned of strike action following an announcement in November 2024, outlining plans to cut 170 members of full-time staff to allegedly save £11 million.
82% of the UEA’s University and College Union’s (UCU) members voted in favour of industrial action, with a turnout of 67%, something that the Union claims to be the “highest the UEA’s UCU has ever achieved”.
The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Maguire, expressed that “[t]hese decisions have not been taken lightly and I recognise that this will be difficult news for our UEA community” and stressed that this decision is one of “last resort”.
The strike will take place on the 26 March.
