Hey King’s!
There can be some confusion as to what the role of Ethnic Minorities Officer is and what I do in that post for you. My role is to represent the issues and interests of anybody who identifies as an ethnic, religious, or cultural minority. I want to stress that this does include mixed-race people, Jewish people, Latino/a/x people, as well as black and Asian people.
Like I said, I’m here to represent you. King’s has a reputation as a progressive college, and rightly so, but there are still some issues which I work on to help make the college even better. I hate to talk about the negatives, but minorities can and do suffer a lot of those whilst studying here, to put it lightly. My job is to help ease that as much as possible by tackling the root cause of any discomfort you may feel here on account of your identity as a minority. Please feel free to contact me through emails/anonymously on the KCSU site/Facebook (Nandini Mitra)/pidge notes if you ever want to talk about a negative experience you’ve felt on account of your race in college. I will do my best to rectify the issue through any available means – everybody at King’s is entitled to feeling comfortable, welcome and happy in college.
What I’ll be doing for the wider college community includes hosting forums talking about topics relevant to those who identify as BME. I plan to open some of these to non-BME people; though my priority is to provide support to BME people in college, I’m also conscious of providing education to those who don’t identify as a minority. It’s all about creating a supportive, open, inclusive environment in King’s where nobody is discriminated on account of their identity. I’ve also collaborated with the Women’s Officer, Georgia Turner, in establishing a feminist society at King’s. My main role in this is to ensure it is intersectional on grounds of race and religion (the LGBT+ and Disabled Students’ Officers will be involved in ensuring the society and all discussion is inclusive of all women regardless of sexuality, gender identity or disability). I’m really looking forward to seeing how King’s newest femsoc will add to the progressive, inclusive environment of the college – I have a lot of hope for it.
Again, feel free to contact me any time should you have any questions or want to chat/rant about BME experiences. I’m always open to hearing from the college about what I can further do for you.
Nandini x