Preferred Name: Nix Herriot
Pronouns: He/Him
UofA Course
PhD in Arts (first year)
What inspired you to engage with the office and role(s) you currently hold?
From opposing the Vietnam War to defeating fee deregulation, from campaigning against uranium mining to striking for climate action, students have a proud history of spearheading political resistance. At a time when apathy is encouraged, I’m always inspired by the radical traditions of student activism. Today, student unionists should be speaking out for a better university and a more just society.
What do you hope to achieve in your office and role(s) in 2022-23?
Students are under attack from governments and vice-chancellors. Our student unions should be fighting back. Instead, they’ve long been run as corporate service providers, existing largely to pad the resumes of tomorrow’s politicians. I want to contribute to a return to an unapologetically political, activist-oriented and properly democratic student union.
What is your number one tip for a new student?
Learning doesn’t just happen in overcrowded lecture theatres. Get involved in fighting for the kind of university (and society) you want to see!
What is something—big or small—that you are really good at?
I like to think I’m pretty good at being an activist! In my role as a student representative, I’m proud to have helped organise climate strikes, call out corporate greenwashing, save vital services like the Maths Learning Centre and put forward a positive vision of a university that serves students, workers and the environment.
What one thing do you wish you had known when you started Uni?
Just how much of a degree factory the university really is! Money talks. I didn’t expect the vice-chancellor to take home almost a million dollars a year while casual tutors struggle to get by. And I certainly didn’t expect that fossil fuel giants like Santos would get to shape university course content, research and funding.
What would we most likely find you doing on the weekend?
When I’m not working on my thesis, you’ll find me cooking, gardening or reading about history and other things that interest me.