Joshua Eibenschutz: Building the Community
My 4 years at Leeds Beckett have shaped me as an individual, but also shown me certain realities of the institution we call our ‘University’. As Course Rep for my course and then my School (Carnegie School of Sport), I have spent a lot of my time speaking to students and staff to grasp how the university works, taking part in activities with the Student Union and the School of Sport, to try and shape policy and decisions made, and injecting student feedback where student opinion is needed and thus empowering the student body.
I pledge to put your voice at the heart of our community.
Universities are large institutions; Leeds Beckett students, like students everywhere, are customers who pay large sums to accomplish an education, learn necessary skills and adopt attributes which we hope will forge our future selves.
We students have been constantly hit, by Covid, the cost of living and strikes, all of which have exacerbated a lack of engagement and sense of belonging, sometimes even loneliness, among the student body. This is not only at LBU, but reverberates in society in general.
I pledge to put our community at the heart of our University
- bonding sessions
- trips and residentials
- activities with faculty
- course activities
I seek a change; I want to change this situation. The university setting is where people come from a plethora of different backgrounds, where ideas are created, conversations are had. Let’s not let these connections and conversations fade away in our University and society.
We need to reconnect with each other, embracing each other’s opinions and working together to make decisions. Together the student body holds great strength and power and only united will it work to bring about change and create a better community.
My goal is: ‘Building the Community,’ by introducing bonding sessions, trips, activities with faculty, course activities and residentials, all of which will be adopted to create a safe, growing and caring environment for all. Let’s create an ecosystem where we can look forward to coming to class or lectures, ensuring everyone is understood, helping us pursue the thousands of routes university can create for us, and allowing us to help others in the world outside our own community.
A sense of community is an attribute we have lost to Covid. Now we are out of the pandemic, it is time for change in the way we see ourselves and the others around us.
Together this community can thrive! Let’s see what we can do!