Watch: Exit interview with the outgoing Union sabb Rachel Lim. Video by Nick Miao/The Cheese Grater
Despite her reputation as a hardworking sabbatical officer, Rachel Lim was the only one of the four sabbs who sought re-election not to win a second term.
Speaking exclusively to The Cheese Grater in the final weeks of her tenure, Welfare and Community Officer Rachel Lim said she hopes to have shown UCL that having Union input in high-level conversations is “worth it” for the insights that officers bring “when it comes to what students want.”
She said she hopes the University saw the “specific value in students advocating for students, instead of various UCL teams reporting on what students want.”
The welfare officer described the task of navigating the “many different pieces” of UCL as a “good challenge”, but added: “I think we (UCL and the Union) just didn’t have a mutual understanding of the things that a welfare sabb could do in the role.”
Lim said the role of the welfare and community officer, in part owing to its vague title, “can mean a lot of different things, so your portfolio gets really spread across the University and the Union.”
“When someone comes in with a particular set of goals, there’s no reassurance that the next person is going to have the same interests.”
The welfare officer did not initially intend to seek re-election but changed her mind just before the nominations closed, a decision that no doubt invited more competition.
Asked why she didn’t want the job to begin with, Lim said: “Honestly, it’s nothing to do with the job, I just personally don’t like what feels like instability to be on a one-year contract.
“I’d really like to be at a place where I can see myself consistently growing through the different stages… I think I’m just a bit Asian that way.”
She said she threw her hat in the ring in the end because she was concerned about a “disconnect” between the University and sabbatical officers, who rarely fill their two-year term limits.
“I think even hearing from UCL’s side, the benefits of having a second-term sabb that they would be able to build a relationship with, it did push me to run in the end.”
This year, Lim had spent much of her time dealing with the state of UCL’s scandal-ridden student halls, where residents in every accommodation filed nearly 800 maintenance tickets on average, and where UCL management was recently accused of “dismantling” student democratic structures.
The welfare officer said work relating to accommodation can be “a bit difficult to wrap your head around” and often becomes “quite a large part of what you do in your day-to-day… having someone who’s interested in it is not always a given.”
Lim narrowly lost her job to Hana Mougharbel by just 57 votes in the closest race of this year’s Union elections.
But Lim said she was “not particularly disappointed” about the results, adding: “I was really happy that someone who was passionate about the role got it.”
“I think there’s a joy in running for elections, and I was really happy for Hana. She seems like a really sweet girl.
“I think we’re actually quite similar in a lot of ways, and I’m sure that she can continue a lot of good work that we started.”
Asked what she thought of next year’s Union leadership, the outgoing officer said: “I’m actually really excited.”
She said of the president-elect Ben Scanlan: “I think the fact that he seems like he’s going to stay in good contact with students [is] going to lend really well to his role.
“Presidents have a really tough job of having to balance being the figurehead of the Students’ Union and [being a] student when talking to UCL so often.
“I think he’s going to do a really good job at that.”
Of her returning colleagues, Activities Officer Ana Boikova, Equity Officer Eda Yildirimkaya, and Postgraduate Officer Darcy Lan, Lim said: “I think there’s a lot of benefit in seeing returning sabbatical officers.
“I’m very excited for that and I think students are going to benefit a lot from what they’re going to do.”
Finally, of the new sabbs, Education Officer Sarah Jilani and Welfare Officer Hana Mougharbel, she said: “From what I can see, they clearly care a lot about students… I think they’re going to have a good time.
“What’s good about sabb roles [is that] you can come in expecting nothing and knowing nothing, and [the Union] is really going to build you up and make sure you have a good time.
“You can really see the impact you’re making.”
