Anvee Bhutani is the co-chair of the ‘Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality’ (CRAE) and the President of Oxford India Society at the Oxford Student Union.
Anvi Bhutani (Twitter)
A student of Indian origin has been elected the President of Oxford Student Union. Anvee Bhutani, a student of Human Sciences at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, was declared winner in the Student Union by-election. The by-election was held after the resignation of Rashmi Samant, an Indian student, who had to step down after a controversy over his old social media posts.
Anvi Bhutani is also the co-chair of ‘Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality’ (CRAE) and the President of Oxford India Society in the Oxford Student Union. Anvi Bhutani Academy was in the fray for the 2021-22 by-election. There was a record voter turnout in this by-election. He was declared the winner on Thursday night. According to ‘Cherwell’ Student Newspaper, Anvi Bhutani campaigned in her manifesto to implement the Oxford Living Wage, remove welfare services and disciplinary action and diversify the curriculum.
Now Anvi Bhutani will work on these topics
The manifesto, released after winning, said that initiatives such as Oxford and the Colonialism Hub will be worked on to pursue a more diverse curriculum. For this, suggestions of student campaigns will be used. More funding will be lobbied for existing mental health support programs, including graduate students. Work will be done to increase access to university counseling service and reduce waiting time.
11 students were in the race for the post of president
According to the newspaper, the voting this time for any by-election was the highest ever. At the same time, more people voted this time than voting for the last several elections. A total of 2,506 people voted in this by-election, which was 146 per cent more than the last by-election in 2019. This time the most candidates were in the fray for the post of President of the Oxford Student Union. A total of 11 students were contesting for this post. The by-election came after the resignation of Indian student Rashmi Samant, who was forced to step down soon after being elected president in February. This happened due to a controversy on his previous social media posts.
Also read: Rashmi resigns to become first Indian woman president of Oxford Students’ Union, Chinese students are angry
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