Image by: RHSU
By Ruby Sharkie, Associate News Editor
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with and interview the Vice President (VP) of Societies and Sports: David Gallardo González.
We met at the bustling Students’ Union (SU) Helpdesk, with SU team members passing us amidst their daily work.
One of the first things I asked David was to introduce himself and his goals. He said his main goals for the academic year were to meet his Priority 8’s – To make timetables more student-friendly and and making the student events more affordable.
“As a film nerd myself – I want to do a lot of that through social media”
The VP graduated from Royal Holloway with a degree in Film but said that it wasn’t the defining factor for his win in his campaign.
“I wouldn’t say Film helped me get the role itself – the people who voted got me the role itself.“
For my campaign I decided to go for an aspect where I used cinematography a lot more than other candidates and I pushed for making a lot more content that was entertaining but also spoke to the students’ and showed them the issues that were happening on campus and how I was going to try and tackle them”
However, David spoke of his experience as a photographer and how those skills can help him advocate for student groups in his role now.
“I was really lucky to work for the Students’ Union (SU) as a photographer for the last two years and I happened to work with the previous two Sabbatical Officers for Societies and Sports and I was given the chance to do the varsity video last two years in a row.”
He also stressed the point that he wanted to keep a balance between his work with the sports groups and societies.
“I want to make sure that I’m not being seen as just a sports guy or just a societies guy.”
David had been part of multiple student groups during his time at Royal Holloway, he spoke of how tennis really impacted his uni life, and how even though he didn’t make the team, he met some friends there that he is still in contact with today.
“It was also a way of getting to do exercise whilst in uni which I think is really important for your (…) health and mental health.”
He also spoke of his time at Musical Theatre Society, that he was shy at first but being on stage made him ‘come out of his shell’.
“Either way, whatever you join, I think it’s a really good opportunity for you to just try something new and see if it works for you or not.”
In light of the closure of the Medicine venue, I thought it was only appropriate to ask David about one of his priorities: “Make SU events more affordable”. So, I started by asking if he was involved in the closure, he denied this and said the plans to close Medicine were decided long before he came into the role.
Image by: RHSU
“We weren’t making any money from medicine – we were at a deficit (…) It was a bit of a challenge for me also because one of my priorities is to make events more affordable and if you close the only free event space on campus – that’s not going to show a very good image from us.”
I was also told by David that Medicine will be used for classes now: “The Medicine venue will be given back to the university to manage because there is a lack of spaces for classes, but we will ensure Student Groups have the possibility of using it.”
David explained the struggle the SU face between wanting to be as affordable and student-friendly as possible, whilst also being on a strict budget themselves. If they lower prices excessively in one area, the students have to pay for it (literally) elsewhere.
“So, for me it’s more making sure that the events that we still run will be worth the money – and coming up with different options for students to go to other events that might be cheaper or free – and giving out some freebies from time to time.“
However, he is managing around this set-back: he said he has managed to implement 100 free tickets on the door at every SU night out, so students are guaranteed free entry if they are one of the first 100 people on the door before 10:30pm.
“I would also like to advertise the free events we already do for free that many students don’t know about – like Give it a Go. Events for students to just go there, meet new people and socialise – we also do trips to different parts of London which is an opportunity to go to these places for much cheaper than if they did it alone.”
After asking him about the new SU event Quackers, David told me it was not his invention but said it was a way of bringing back more themed nights and special discounts to campus after a survey showed that students were wanting for more.
“But why the duck mascot?” I asked David. He said: “I can’t say whos idea that was but i think it was just an idea for a funny mascot (…) many say why not it be Colossus but Colossus is more a university mascot and we can’t have that representing a club”
One of Davids’ other tactics to be transparent and financially-focused regarding SU events is to produce cost break-downs of the events, similar to the ones released for summer ball.
“I would like to also disclose a bit about how the nights out happen, where the money goes to, whether it’s the student staff that work on the night, the security, the djs, the artists – many people think the money is just going to the SU to make more money but at the end of the day we are a charity and by being a charity we have to stand by making money to give back to the students – all that is made is usually spent back on those students and many times they don’t notice – and of course by they I mean me too. I was a student not long ago and we don’t notice all the decoration which costs a lot of money, so getting those decorations for a theme night does cost more.”
As for his other Priority 8 goal: “To make timetables more student-friendly”, David said this goal is a little more difficult. He said he has been talking with the university staff and timetable team to push for less early morning and less late afternoon and pushing for more condensed timetables so students will have free days for part time jobs or societies and sports clubs.
However, the timetable process starts in November before they release them. David said he is hoping to get earlier timetable releases for future years.
Nevertheless, David told me of some upcoming events in November, for example: “MENtion it..” hosted by him and his fellow VP of Education Matthew Paterson – surrounding men’s mental health.
There will be a collection of events surrounding “MENtion it” including: drop-in sessions, cupcake decorating and Give it a Go’s and a sports tournament on Friday 28th of November with Netball and Football.
At the end of our conversation, I asked David if he had any final messages for the readers of the article, he said:
“If anyone has any questions at all, they can contact me via DM on instagram or email me, i’m always here and really excited to start my role this year!”
David’s email: [email protected]
David’s Instagram: @rhsusocsport