HCX Campus Celebrity: Meg Lawrence

Meet Meg Lawrence running to be your next VP Welfare & Diversity! Her Campus Exeter caught up with Meg to find out why YOU should vote for MEG (Make Exeter Great) in the guild elections this week…

Name: Meg Lawrence

Year: 3rd Year History

Campus Celeb Status: Running for VP Welfare & Diversity

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself…

I am NUS Women’s Liberation Campaign Rep and as part of my role we arranged a talk with everyday sexism founder Laura Bates for next year.

What’s your favourite thing about Uni life?

You get to meet lots of different people from all walks of life!

What are your proudest moments since starting Uni?

Being elected as Exeposé online Editor, and within that coming runner up for website of the Year for Guardian Student Media awards! I am also particularly proud of releasing the first ever Exeposé app through the annual fund.

Now that you’re a third year, what advice would you give a fresher?

Have self-confidence and believe in yourself from the start – I have only really felt truly confident in myself whilst campaigning this week but people should feel like this from the very beginning.

What three qualities should a Vice-President for Welfare & Diversity have?

Empathy, Approachability, Proactivity

Why did you decide to run for Welfare & Diversity?

I felt like I could make a difference for students in areas where I saw particular issues, I’ve spoken to people about their problems and I wanted to do something about it.

What are the main things you would want to implement?

• I want people to talk about mental health issues more – to reduce stigma surrounding them.
• I want to encourage students to be more self-confident by introducing a Body Positive Scheme.
• I’d like to focus on student’s safety in Exeter through implementing a Safety Survey and being able to tackle areas that students feel are unsafe – I will also introduce a Get Home Safe Scheme.
• I want to improve housing by creating a Housemate Finder online for both undergraduate and postgraduate students and also complete the Landlord Accreditation Scheme.

What do you feel is unique to your campaign?

I’m the only candidate who talks about Never Ok. I have undertaken focus groups and each of my manifesto points focus on things that really matter to students – my campaign isn’t about me but the student population, which is why I’m not the only one to feature in my video. I really want to show people I want this job, because I want to represent students and their needs – this isn’t about me, it’s about them!

Tell us about your slogan…

My slogan is Make Exeter Great, of course I already think that Exeter is great but tackling the issues that I have mentioned in my manifesto will make it even greater – (as the tab have pointed out it is an acronym!)

How’s the campaign going so far?

Really great – I have been overwhelmed by how many people have been incredibly positive about my manifesto and have taken the time to come and speak to me!

Give us three words to sum up your campaign and your vision for the Guild…

Make, Engage & Guarantee

Follow @voteMeg on Twitter, Keep updated on her campaign on Facebook, and watch her campaign video below!

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