Tazi Buchholz
What made you apply for the role?
It might be silly to say, but a whole lot of rage and a whole lot of hope. I think this university can be better; I think it can live up to the goals and ideals that it goes around declaring it has but keeps falling short of. I decided to apply for this role because in my work as a class representative and an international master’s student, I could not help but keep getting tangled up in the web of problems at this university. If they’re happening to me, as a new student, I’m definitely not the first to face them, and in so many cases I hope to be the last.
I’ve got a slightly pesky habit of getting involved as a representative, having a loud voice (you’ll have to excuse me for being from the United States), and international study and work experience in the states, Chile, Scotland, Germany, and Spain. I’ve seen problems all over the world, and I want to take a crack at the issues facing students here in Galway. So many things have made me angry, and that’s a good place to start getting to work.
Talk us through your manifesto, and the main thing you’ll work on if elected.
At the core, what I am really interested in is fostering belonging on campus. Students who get accepted to this university, who choose to come here, should feel welcome and supported both when they arrive and for the entirety of their time here. The accommodation crisis is something that almost every single student running for office has commented on for the last several years, and it’s an issue that is still incredibly present on and off campus. More and more students, Irish and international alike, are going further away from the university and entering into precarious living arrangements just to be able to
study here. And then facing public transit issues on a daily basis. It’s an issue that quite negatively impacts international students, who are brought in by the university as full-fee tuition paying students to keep the university afloat, who come in and don’t have the option of finding digs that host them during the week because they don’t have anywhere to go home to on the weekends. It’s shameful, really.
The university hasn’t fixed a local problem, and has begun pulling in more and more students from abroad to fix one problem—people who are vulnerable in this country and paying for false hope and their own exploitation in an incredibly expensive country—and furthering another in the process. I want to advocate for finding a way to put more beds on campus and to protect students from exploitation by landlords off of it.
I’m interested in fostering belonging and inclusion on campus, regardless of
language, country of origin, race, ethnicity, economic status, gender and sexual orientation, ability, marital status, etc. But it’s hard to foster that safety and belonging for students when they themselves are not having their basic needs met. So that’s a start at the very least.
What do you think the greatest obstacle will be in your term, if elected?
I think just general university pushback will be a real obstacle, and I’m not the first to talk about it. Change is a slow and minute process, and the real progress is going to be the work carrying on from year to year. From the perspective of my background, I think it’s going to be hard to get the university to see reason on issues facing international students simply because they don’t do anything to hide their greed about increasing our population to 20-25%. We’re cash cows, and it’s hard to get work done without money. I think we can find other avenues, but I am worried about university pushback and further exploitation of students to be able to afford better lives for other communities on campus. Greed and paperwork are going to be the biggest obstacles overall.
What is something you would hope to carry on from the previous officer, if elected?
I want to continue the work that Izzy has done with Bród Soc and the launch of the T Fund on campus to provide gender affirming items to students transitioning. Trans healthcare in this country is lacking, folks are waiting forever for appointments, and the expense involved can be incredibly high. As a committee member of Bród Soc, I got to see first-hand all the hard work that went into the process, and it was such a win for this campus and community to put forth institutionalized support for trans students on campus. If elected, I would work to raise funds to continue fostering that support from the SU.
I also really admire their work with groups like Active Consent to raise awareness of consent and sexual health and wellbeing on campus. They’ve been a staunch advocate for the sex worker community and protections for students, and I would love to continue that work to inform students not only of their rights, but also of the possibilities to health and wellness.
Finally, why do you think people should vote for you?
I think I can make a difference on this campus to get student’s voices heard. I’m not into gimmicks, I don’t love the grind of social media, you might see my face in some weird places, but really I want to have a chat about what students are most interested in seeing changed or continued. From there, the job is supporting them as best as you can. At the end of the day, what I really want is to help students feel like they belong and have a place in the campus community. If they think I am the best person for the job, I would appreciate their votes on March 14. If I’m not, then I hope that the best person for the job carries the day and we can all leave the University of Galway better than we found it.