6 Things That You Might Have Missed From Last Night’s Student Question Time

Last night saw the first Student Question Time in 5 years with the QMSU President, Talhah Atcha and Principal & President of QMUL, Professor Colin Bailey. Here’s 6 things you might have missed.

1. Floyer House will be in use in 2020/21

Following guidance from Residences who stated that Floyer House would not be in use after this academic year, student groups have been preparing for life after Laird. After increasing debate over whether that timeline was feasible (there is not even a planning permission application submitted), Colin Bailey told us that due to a number of challenges, Floyer House, and therefore Laird Hall would continue to be in use for at least another year. That means at least one more year of great Laird Hall shows like BL Dance’s Strictly Come Dancing, BL Drama’s Pantomime and BL RAG’s Take Me Out! He also acknowledged that communication had not been up to scratch and that they’d try and improve this to get ahead of the rumour mill.

2. Climate change is the “biggest crisis the world is facing” - but no commitments

Colin Bailey acknowledged that climate change was a huge issue but cautioned against placing specific targets, such as becoming carbon neutral by 2025 as it would be “virtually impossible”. He instead emphasises QMUL’s role in pushing climate research and innovation.

3. Whitechapel misses the “family feel” of Mile End

Upon questioning about Whitechapel, Colin Bailey revealed that he doesn’t consider it a proper campus, with it being closer to a collection of buildings. He definitely has a point there, but more questionable was his assertion that it doesn’t have a “family feel” (which Mile End presumably does). Surely, the community around the buildings are just as important as the building themselves - in which case I don’t think we lack too badly for that family feel.

4. The University is investing heavily in security

Following recent security incidents flagged up by the Students’ Union, Colin Bailey revealed his despair at the current state of security and has pledged over £1 million to increase and improve security presence across all campuses. Proposed improvements include increased patrols, improving CCTV coverage and all members of security wearing bodycams in the future. However, when questioned on how trust in security could be rebuilt, he failed to reveal any concrete plans.

5. Merger Cup isn’t inclusive, despite including more students than any other regular campaign the Union runs.

In one of the more unconvincing parts of the night, Colin Bailey tried to justify defunding Merger Cup by claiming it was not inclusive of all students at Queen Mary. This was rebuffed by students, who pointed out that not only does it have some of the most active participation of any annual student led activity, but that the campaigns supported such as LGBT+ inclusion, talking about mental health, zero tolerance to discrimination, and improving accessibility in sport (just in the last few years) have all been about improving inclusivity. To this, there was no satisfactory answer from the Principal.

6. It’s not Colin’s University, it’s our University

In his closing words, Colin Bailey was keen to emphasise that the University was something that belonged to all of us; it wasn’t his University but our University. That is, of course, a statement that is considerably easier to say when you’re the one calling the shots compared to being the subject of them.