Rowven – My Role as SU President

Rowven is the Students’ Union President of EKC Dover College. Ahead of the upcoming Students’ Union Elections, we spoke to him about the role, what his responsibilities are, and what it means to be SU President.  

He also told us why he went for the role and why you should get involved with the Students’ Union throughout the academic year. 

What does a Students’ Union President do? 

I work with the Student Experience Officer to look into how we can enhance student life at College. That could be in a number of ways, for example, planning events and trips that will create great memories. 

My role also involves going out to meet all the students and asking them what they would like to do in College. I also help to then make the relevant decisions based on their feedback. The main goal as an SU President is to make a difference to students. 

The best part is that as a Students’ Union, we work well together so that we can make an impact. We create many opportunities during the year to make student life stand out. I think like that’s like a massive win and that’s something we are really proud of. 

What inspired you to go for the role of Students’ Union President? 

I think it was the impact itself. When I heard about the role being open, I knew it was an amazing opportunity to be part of the College and to help people generally. 

What’s your favourite things that you planned in the role? 

I also wanted to have a bigger voice in the events and activities that were planned in the year. Currently we’ve got lots of different trips planned like taking part in sporting activities at the local leisure centre.  

I really enjoyed a trip at the end of last year, where people went to Bluewater to do some Christmas shopping. The feedback was that it was really enjoyable and for me just seeing the joy in people’s faces is golden.  

What are you proud of doing in the role?  

I think realistically for me it’s all about making sure students are heard. I’m a very vocal person but not everyone is, so I’ll try to be the voice of those people. 

It’s been really big for me to have an enhanced focus on diversity and inclusion. As President I’ve tried for us to do more. A few weeks ago, we celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colour. I loved the essence of the festival itself, so we celebrated that, we had a few competitions, and we decorated.  

Next year we’re going to be celebrating World Cultural Day as well. Making sure everyone’s feeling included and celebrating different things is like a very big thing to me.  

What do you like about College?  

I love how different it is from like Secondary. College is like a small university with a hint of secondary school. 

The way people learn here is a bit more flexible and I think that’s the part I like best about College in general. 

What advice would you give the next Students’ Union President? 

When I came to College I was very unsure and I didn’t know if College was the best thing for me. However, it clearly was as I’m now SU President!  

I’d say don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Throw yourself in to any situation and if it doesn’t work, you can find something else, it’s always worth trying, failing and seeing how everything goes.  

I think generally the College should plan more events to suit everyone. different stuff. As an example, at the start of the year we planned Valentine’s Day, but we planned it around celebrating not just romantic love, but also friendships. 

My final piece of advice – I think just a word to the campus from the President, I’d say stay awesome. 

If you’re interested about the Students’ Union, learn more on the SU page, or speak to your Student Experience Officer in the Student Centre.