“It’s really important to get face-to-face with someone” - Gracious Momoh on Running for Equality Officer

According to the Maynooth Students’ Union website, the role of Equality Officer “supports the Vice President of Welfare and Equality with equality-based campaigns,” tackling social issues around campus. Gracious Momoh is one of the candidates for the position in today’s elections, looking to help foster student welfare and social mobility for everyone on campus. Although she could not make it to the most recent hustings (which you can find our summary of here), I arranged a one-on-one interview with Gracious to ask about her background at Maynooth, and what she hopes to bring to the table.

Finn: What is your name and the position for which you are running?

Gracious: My name is Gracious Momoh, and I’m running for the Equality Officer position at MSU.

F: Can you recall your first day at Maynooth University, on campus?

G: Yes […] It was a really fun, sunny day. I enjoyed it because I was interacting with a lot of people […] that day; I don’t think I had one specific friend, I was just getting to know everyone and [travelling] the whole campus, I spent ages [there]. Luckily, one of my closest friends goes here [...] after the whole day of interacting with everyone, I saw her [and we] literally just talked about our whole day, and how fun it was. I was pleasantly surprised  – I think the sun [helped].

F: It's the perfect time of year for something like that [...] Did anywhere on campus stand out to you?

G: I went to South Campus, and that especially stood out to me [...] A week or two beforehand, I searched for YouTube videos about where my law courses would be. They said South Campus, so I was greatly excited, [but] at my orientation they told me it wasn’t where the courses were held. But on the first day, I was still [under the] whole façade and I went to go explore all of South Campus […] I loved it. One time I ate lunch under a tree [on South Campus], but I didn’t do it again, because no one else does.

F: More people should, it’s great. So, you’re a law student?

G: I am! I do a Bachelor of Law, and I’m in second year now.

F: How have you been finding that so far, two years in?

G: Two years in, I can definitely say that I’m enjoying it way more. I’ve come to understand the [expected] standard of studying, and I like the degree I’ve picked [...] Doing the workload and enjoying it – it’s like when you’re doing a maths question and take some time to get it right. It feels nice, I’m enjoying it. I even went to the career fair (the Law Society Laws Career Fair, held on October 7th in TSI), talking more about my career and what the future holds. Yesterday, I daydreamed about being in mixers too!

F: I can empathise with […] not grasping how the study should go, not knowing where to start and how much you should be doing, and once you get a grapple on that, it’s far more comfortable.

G: It is, that’s the perfect word to use. It feels like I […] do what I have to do, every few weeks, and it’s [simpler], you feel like you’re actually making progress.

F: Are there any issues on the campus now you notice on your day-to-day, that you would seek to resolve as Equality Officer?

G: I feel like there’s some antisocial behaviour, so I would love to bring back being interactive and bringing smiles to people’s faces. It’s hard because, [although] college is meant to be fun, [...] you realise how much you’re meant to be studying, and it frightens [you] They’re upset, and then there’s 9ams […] parking as well. But we can work on being more social. It’s a hard task, but I think that it can be done.

That’s the main issue; when it comes to events, I see posters […] but I wish things were more broadcasted and strategic. Certain people are [only] in certain buildings […] they don’t see other posters in other buildings, so we need to be strategic about what classes go where [relative to] what posters go where, just to make sure they’re getting around to every type of student.

F: As well as being more strategic with where posters are put up […] would you use any social media channels to promote events?

G: One hundred percent. I think social media is the biggest thing, because everyone is on their phones, but as [prominent as] social media [is], I was going around getting my signatures (to run for the election) and [interest] came from talking to random groups of people; people who probably never would have talked to me, and whom I probably never would have talked to. I genuinely think that as much as we are afraid to be more social […] and talk to certain people, being in-person usually has a good response. [On] social media, a lot of people see it and get scared to come to events, but even having mini-committees that go around the school and actually interact with people […] people will be astonished by that and want to interact with what’s going on. I think little things like that are very important; social media though, 100%, no matter what, [whether it be] videos or posters, it’s great.

F: One of the current major accessibility roadblocks on campus right now is faulty automatic doors […] what would you do to resolve an issue like that?

G: [I would] definitely make everyone aware of the situation. A lot of people don’t know things like this were going on. Even I’m a little shocked by it, to think that groups of people can’t access certain doors. Making everyone aware […] sometimes it piques people’s interest, and they want to help out. Second off, to tackle the issue, [I would] message members of the board to get people to fix the doors […] if they’re not replying as fast [as we would like], we’d start petitions, again making people more aware that it’s actually a big issue and not just something we can pass by. I think we could help that way.

F: On the note of awareness, a big issue for the MSU today is getting people engaged; invested in what happens within the Senate, and aware of how its members can help us in our day-to-day lives. So, how would you put yourself out there and make yourself known to students as Equality Officer?

G: As of right now, I’ve posted on social media about voting for me, and then I look at the difference [when] asking people in real life about signing for me. A few people asked me, “why should I sign for you?”, and others said, “I’ve never seen someone come up to people asking for signatures,” and it surprised me. I’m not the most social person, but I definitely put myself out there […] I think that, as much as it is uncomfortable because a lot of people want to focus on certain things in university and not everyone has free time, it’s really important to get face-to-face with someone. It’s the most important type of connection. I would spend a day going out, talking to people, [sharing] word of mouth; it’s very powerful.

Social media is very powerful but I don’t think we’re getting ‘the best of both worlds’ […] We should particularly be trying to – instead of [primarily] bringing people in to MSU – step out and [get people to] recognise us face-to-face. As well as that, I would love to put in some new events, like a Culture Day; I know everyone liked that in secondary school. Maybe panel discussions, talking to HR teams to make sure we educate students on things going on […] Obviously, we have our [traditional events], but it does catch people’s eyes when we have something new. Just that little bit of change, it can make students feel more open to us; I earnestly do believe that. Another thing [regarding being] face-to-face, I would love to – in a comfortable way – do interviews to take note of what people want implemented. We could do that anonymously, with [suggestion] boxes.

F: Thank you so much! That concludes our interview, I greatly appreciate you coming out today.

G: Thank you so much!

Gracious will be alongside Cal De Nicolas in the ballot for Equality Officer, so make sure to carefully consider your choice for the upcoming elections. Voting will be available both online (from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) and in person at booths (open from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) in the Arts Block, TSI, Library, MSU Club Foyer, and MSU Info Centre – the latter will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Whether voting today online or in person, students are encouraged to take the time to review each candidate and make their voices heard.

Happy voting!