“There is still much foundational change to be made”

Whilst this year was full of celebration across the university to commemorate International Women’s Day, there is always room for even more support, especially from organisations with a greater degree of influence such as the Student’s Union. I spoke to this year’s women’s officer, Emily Carr, about what International Women’s Day means to her and what Cardiff as a university can do to show an even greater degree of support for such an important day. When asked what International Women’s Day means to her, specifically as our current elected women’s officer, her response was that “It is about long term policy change, it’s about long term campaign. It shouldn’t just be one social media post. It is about how we can invest in our students and in our community”.

When asked what needs to be improved upon in the future, Emily responded that “It has been a privilege to be the women’s officer but moving forward as an institution we can’t be throwing out meaningless things and expect that to be job done. I think representation goes further than just an Instagram post or an event. We need to openly critique the way Cardiff University recognises and celebrates marginalized communities and minorities within the student and local community. More has to be done to improve representation. There is still so much foundational change to be made”.