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Cover interview: Tom Chigbo
FEATURE, INTERVIEWS — By admin on July 20, 2010 at 5:51 am

Aspire meets Britain’s Obama Tom Chigbo who is just rounding off his term as the first black President of the Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU).



What made you decide to run for President?

“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Cambridge and wanted to help other students to have as wonderful an experience as I have had. During my year as JCR President at St John’s College I began to appreciate the importance of students working together to solve problems and campaign for change. The opportunity to support students from all colleges in doing this was really appealing.”

Share with us a typical day in the President’s shoes.

“There’s no such thing as a typical day really! My time is mostly divided between University representation, supporting JCR/MCRs (College student associations), working on policy, organising events and promoting the work of CUSU to students.  Over the course of a week I might have scheduled meetings with University staff and academics, like Senior Tutors or the Vice Chancellor, as well as meetings other individuals and groups of students, like JCR/MCR Presidents. Alongside this, I will work with the other officers to research issues affecting students and develop campaigns or policy proposals for the university to consider. Sometimes this will require high profile public events and media interest, sometimes it will require more targeted lobbying behind the scenes.

This job throws up all sorts of things. A single day at work might include a two hour meeting of University Council, an interview for BBC radio, giving a talk to secondary school students, meeting JCR and MCR Presidents, writing a paper to present to a University and dealing with anything that arises in the course of the day.”

How has the experience been so far?

“It’s been incredibly exciting! I’ve not been bored once. I’ve enjoyed helping students to realise how much power they have and work out ways for them to improve their experience at University. The whole team has put in ridiculous hours but we’ve also had the privilege of convincing an 800 year

old institution that it can change and evolve to provide an even better experience for students.

The experience has reaffirmed my faith in collectivism and politics more generally. It’s clear from our achievements this year and the positive effect that the student union has had on the lives of students that, in all communities, people are stronger when they work together and play an active

role in decision making.”

Have you been able to use your Geography degree on the job?

“Although I rarely need to bring up the complexities of Indian politics or discuss Victorian attitudes to sex work (as I did in my geography finals), I reckon that my degree has given me plenty of useful skills, which I’ve used on the job. Most important has been the ability to present an argument in a

convincing and clear fashion. During my degree, I had to do this every time I wrote an essay or had a supervision. Now, I apply the same skills when making a speech at CUSU Council or writing a policy proposal for a University Committee. As a human geographer, I also had to spend a lot of time reading and quickly working out what was important from the text. I still need to do this in order to stay on top of the immense load of paperwork and information that I receive every week before meetings.”

What would you consider as your greatest achievement on the job?

“Our University refuses to directly fund the activities of CUSU (most universities give their students’ union a block grant of hundreds of thousands of pounds) and we started the year faced with some very difficult choices about what we could afford to do in future. This year we have completely turned this situation around and have successfully convinced the University to pay us £50,000 so we can set up a brand new Student Advice Service. CUSU has campaigned for this for at least a decade, and the Student Advice Service has consistently been recognised as the Students’ Union’s number one priority.

The Student Advice Service will open next year and will allow all students to benefit from free, impartial, non judgemental support from a full-time professional caseworker for the first time ever in Cambridge. This will provide students with much needed support and advice on a wide range of

welfare and academic concerns, from disability and drugs, to exam appeals and eating disorders. This is without a doubt, one of the greatest achievements that CUSU has ever made.”

What were some obstacles and challenges you’ve had to overcome?

“Cambridge is a very decentralised university, so making any change often requires agreement and cooperation from several different parts, rather than just convincing one person or institution. It can sometimes be difficult to get all these different stakeholders to work together towards a common goal, rather than promoting their own interests.”

What advice do you have for your successor and students in general?

“I would advise my successor to spend as much time as possible speaking to students. It can sometimes be difficult to get away from the office at busy times, but it is important to stay connected with what students are talking about day to day.

I would encourage students to take every opportunity to get involved in shaping their university experience, whether that’s through their JCR/MCR, clubs and societies or CUSU. Although life in Cambridge is great, we should always challenge the university to improve the way it teaches and supports students.”

If you were Prime Minister for one day, what would you do?

“I would take action to reduce inequality between rich and poor, such as raising taxes on high earners, building lots of new council houses and abolishing private education.”

Do you ever go home to Nigeria?

“Unfortunately not, however I am planning to go at some stage in the next year.”

What do you do for fun?

“I’m a big football fan and enjoy watching films with my housemates and keeping up to date with the news. I also like travelling and listening to music.”

What are your plans for the future?

“I’m not really sure about what I will do next year. Hopefully it will be something that involves helping people realise their potential or making our communities fairer and more sustainable.”

Interviewed by Isabella E.C. Akinseye  http://theaspiremagazine.com/cover-interview-tom-chigbo/



Chigbo: A vision for CUSU  http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/uncategorized/chigbo-a-vision-for-cusu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_University_Students'_Union

As if it would make news in Europe if a white boy becomes president in University Of Lagos. (If at all a single white dey there sef). We are seeing this as big news because we are losers. Simple

Igbo kwenu, for real. Nice job.

There are lots of Black leaders in American universities. I guess Britain is a racist country. However, much better than Nigeria.

Not impressed at all.

How can a Nigerian be the SU president of both Oxford and Cambridge.

^-- Two different guys. Both first black presidents at their respective universities.

80+% of the black people at places like oxbridge are usually Nigerians

SEFAGO:

80+% of the black people at places like oxbridge are usually Nigerians

BTW, are you the same sefago at collegeconfidential.com?

yeah pourquoi?