A message from Anamika Harirajh

My name is Anamika, I am an Arts student majoring in English and History at Waipapa Taumata Rau – The University of Auckland, and it has been my absolute pleasure to serve you this year as the President of AUSA, the Auckland University Students’ Association. Not only is this my final year on the AUSA Exec, but it is also my final semester here at UOA, which makes writing this letter just a little bit more special.

As expected, 2021 was an incredibly busy year for the AUSA team. Entering into a snap lockdown the night before the first day of the semester, and (more importantly) the first day of AUSA’s Orientation festival, was not the best way to kick off the year. Despite the rocky start, our team came together and was able to reschedule the entire Orientation festival, as well as our annual Orientation concert, Party in the Spark – which, from what I can remember, was an incredible night! Shutting down Alfred Street and being able to witness thousands of students engaging in our O-Week events was one of my personal highlights of this year; if this year’s festivities are anything to go by, I cannot wait to see what our Events team has lined up for O-Week 2022!

As we enter our 9th week in lockdown at the time of writing this message, the importance of our mahi in the Student Voice space has never been more prevalent too. While working with the University to implement academic support for students during the most recent lockdown has been challenging, I am excited to see how the new Executive will continue to advocate on behalf of students in our rapidly changing environment. From consultation on the new Curriculum Transformation Strategy to our growing partnership with the University’s Executive Committee, and with the University’s open commitment to working with students as partners as outlined in Taumata Teitei, I know that how student voices are incorporated into decision making will continue to change, in the most exciting ways.

“Change is something we have all feared, but it is rapidly becoming the tool we must use to progress our goals and ambitions, whatever they may be.”

2021 was also the year in which we had to make a few tough decisions as an Executive. After years of ineffective advocacy, as well as a range of internal systemic issues, our students historically voted in favour of AUSA withdrawing our membership from NZUSA, the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations. While this was no easy decision to make by any means, and after a robust discussion at our AGM, our students were able to recognise that although advocacy on a national level is especially important, what this advocacy looks like can and should change in order for it to be truly effective and representative of student needs.