July 20, 2025 • 15 mins
Grace sits down with ANUSA BIPOC Officer, Aleesya Amirizal, to discuss racism on campus, the BIPOC Department's annual Racism Report, the newly-minted BIPOC Base and the dpeartment's plans for the future.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Interviewer (00:10):
You're listening to Warony Radio. Today, I'm here
with Alicia from the BIPOCdepartment. How are you today,
Alicia?
BIPOC Officer (00:15):
I'm good. Thanks, Grace. Thank you for having me
today.
Interviewer (00:17):
Now what is your department? What or who do you
represent?
BIPOC Officer (00:21):
So I am currently the twenty twenty five officer
for the BIPOC department. Thatstands for black, indigenous,
and people of color. So if youfall under that group, if you
identify as that group,basically, we are the department
for you. If you fall under aracial minority, we understand
that it can be difficultnavigating ANU as, you know,
progressive as a universitytries to be. You know, there are
(00:42):
still definitely issues, and weare here for you whenever you
have faced racial discriminationor if you simply just wanna get
in touch with other people thatidentify as a racial minority.
I also wanna make it reallyclear that even if you don't
present as BIPOC in, you know,the conventional matter, say if
you're white passing or you'remixed, the BIPOC department is
(01:03):
always here for you too. There'sno certain way that you need to
present to be accepted as partof the BIPOC department. If you
identify as BIPOC and if thatresonates with you, you
definitely have a home with usas well. And if you ever have
issues with people, you know,not understanding your identity
and the way that you perceiveyour own culture, then that's
something you can definitelyreach out to us about as well.
Interviewer (01:25):
Yeah. So it has a really, really broad definition,
and it's really about, like,strengthening community and,
like, advocacy as well.
BIPOC Officer (01:32):
100%. I know for a lot of BIPOC people, including
myself, family is a very bigpart of our culture. And for a
lot of people, to ANU also meansmoving away from our family. So
you're moving away from theculture, and I've experienced
that since moving to ANU. I felta bit disconnected with my BIPOC
identity just because I wasn'tconstantly surrounded by my
family as I was used to in highschool.
(01:53):
So the BIPOC department has beenso helpful in the way that
everyone else is alsoexperiencing this disconnect,
and we create our own family ofsorts where we can share our
culture and we feel like we'reall accepted under this mix and
combination of differentcultures to create something
brand new for all of us. Yeah.It's definitely so important
navigating, I guess, like apredominantly white society and,
(02:16):
you know, in a colonialgovernment that our experiences
are gonna be very different incomparison to our white peers
and making sure that we know westand in solidarity with each
other regardless of what facetof BIPOC identity we identify
as, coming together and sharingthat with us, regardless of
whether our stories aredifferent or the same. And just
understanding and being therefor one another, I think, is
(02:38):
essential to the BIPOCdepartment and just the overall
BIPOC community in ANU and inCanberra as well.
Interviewer (02:44):
What are the main things that you do? Like, how do
you work to represent, advocatefor, or provide services for the
ANU students in your department?
BIPOC Officer (02:52):
ANU BIPOC department has always maintained
a very healthy balance ofadvocacy and also social life as
well. We obviously wannaadvocate for the rights of
students here, but we also wannacreate, you know, somewhere
that's fun, somewhere that's,like, friendly and not
completely wrapped up in biggerissues. Although very important,
sometimes you do just reallywanna let loose with your, like,
BIPOC mates. You don't alwayswanna be talking about racism at
(03:15):
the same time. So it's creatingthat healthy balance so you are
advocating, but also creating arelaxing space.
A lot of our advocacy stems fromour racism report, which is an
annual report that gets releasedby the BIPOC department. We send
out a survey to students, BIPOCstudents at ANU, regarding
specifically their experiencesat the university, you know, the
(03:35):
racism they face. We gatherthese statistics. We put
together a report andessentially just send out
recommendations to theuniversity on what they can do
better to make this a saferspace for BIPOC students. If I
recall correctly, I think thefirst report came out in 2021.
That might be incorrect, soapologies. But since then, we
have been receiving responsesfrom the ANU and are
(03:57):
consistently trying to hold theuniversity accountable because
although they have made somebaby steps, I do feel like it
continues to be a struggle forBIPOC students on the daily.
Another aspect of our advocacyis that I am always here for
disclosure reports. If you faceracism on campus, I am someone
you can come to, and we can lookat options. But even looking at
(04:18):
options on how to address racismcan be very difficult.
It's a very bureaucratic system,and it makes it hard for people
to wanna address these issuesbecause it's kind of like, I
really have to commit todisclosing this, and that can
retraumatize people. It's hardto even just talk about it with
one person, let alone having togo up this ladder of ANU
officials and retell this story,reopen the wounds time and time
(04:41):
again. So I'm working on that.I've been working alongside,
hopefully, the National StudentOmbudsman, which was established
earlier this year on makingthings a lot easier in terms of
reporting this to the universityand the university actually
holding perpetrators of racismaccountable. But aside from
advocacy, we do do social eventsas well.
Every week, we aim to have twoto three events, just sort of
(05:03):
bring people together, letpeople mix and mingle. I
remember in my first year ofuniversity, the BIPOC department
I'm not trying to make it up ormake it seem like a story just
to convince people to come toour events, but this was, like,
my genuine experience. I metsome of my closest friends at
BIPOC events. Like, we have ourChai and Chats where you can
come down and get a free coffeeon us. We have BIPOC Talks,
(05:24):
which is sort of like aconsciousness raising circle.
We discuss deeper topics and ourown experiences, and we like to
collab with a lot of otherdepartments as well, such as
indigenous department, ISD, andqueer. Obviously, there are so
many intersectional issues, andcollaborating with the other
departments creates a saferspace for people who identify
with different minority groupsas well because BIPOC isn't
(05:44):
everyone just one identity.Everyone has multifaceted
identities, and you just wannashare that with everyone
regardless. Being able to workalongside the offices so far
this year, even though we arevery, like, early into the year,
I can see it's I have a lot ofadmiration for them. They all
just seem so passionate abouttheir departments, and they
truly are there, you know, tomake make this university a
(06:06):
better place for the people thatthey represent.
I think, yeah, it's soimportant, and, yeah, I love
them all dearly. Like, it's sucha I'm so grateful for the team
that I'm able to work with.
Interviewer (06:15):
I feel like that's been such a common thread with
all these interviews is everysingle person I've interviewed
has just been so passionateabout their department. So what
are some achievements orsuccesses in your advocacy for
ANU students?
BIPOC Officer (06:27):
As a whole of, like, the BIPOC department?
Yeah. Yeah. So I guess, like, asI mentioned before, the racism
report, having that establishedas a very consistent thing now,
it's just making sure theuniversity doesn't forget that
we're still here, we're stillasking for more. It wasn't just
like a one and done, oh, we'velooked at racism now.
We just, like, give it to theuniversity. Hope they fix it.
No. By doing it on a consistentbasis and making it a norm and
(06:49):
an expectation that thedepartment releases a report
means that we are constantlylooking to the university. The
university is constantly lookingto us and knowing that we are
asking for better.
Another huge achievement, Ithink, occurred at the end of
twenty twenty three. At thetime, Paria, who was a BIPOC
officer, acquired the BIPOC SafeSpace, which is located in
(07:09):
Hayden Allen. If you go to ourInstagram, you can request
access. The BIPOC base isessentially just a little area
where you can do whatever youwant. There's a TV.
There's couches. There's desk.There's a little kitchen. You
can go to study. Go hang outwith your friends.
I won't even lie. Like, on mylunch breaks from work, I will
sometimes go there and just havea little lie down. It's a
completely autonomous space justfor BIPOC students. So if you're
(07:30):
kind of sick of studying inChifley, studying in Murray Ray,
it's too hot outside, join us inBIPOC department. It's really
gorgeous in there.
And being able to get that spacewas such an achievement because,
obviously, a lot of the otherdepartments have safe spaces as
well. And it was kind ofsurprising to me knowing that
BIPOC department didn't haveone. I thought it seemed kind of
obvious. Well, not obvious, butit felt like it should have
(07:51):
happened a while ago. So Ireally respect Haria for getting
us that space, and then Selena,who was my predecessor, for
launching it and making it thebig thing that it is now.
We have maybe 200 students withaccess at this point, which is
such an achievement, and I'm soglad that that is a space for
people to go to when they needit.
Interviewer (08:10):
That's, like, actually shocking because BIPOC
is massive.
BIPOC Officer (08:12):
BIPOC is a huge department. I always like not to
toot my own home, but I think weare one of the bigger
departments just in terms ofpeople that come to, like, our
events and stuff. Yeah. It's ahuge department. So, yeah, the
fact that we didn't a space forsuch a long time.
Yeah. You just feel so relaxedin there. Like, me and my
friends go in there all thetime, and it's you strike up
conversations with anyone inthere. It's kind of like, even
if you don't know them, it'slike, oh, we're both in the
BIPOC, like, safe space. Let's,like, have a chat.
Interviewer (08:35):
We've kind of touched on this before in some
previous questions, but what doyou think are some roadblocks or
main issues that affect studentsyou represent, and how are you
working to change these at ANU?
BIPOC Officer (08:46):
I mentioned before the system,
unfortunately, is verybureaucratic in terms of being
able to report racism and howthat can go up further to
actually have a consequence forthe people perpetrating racism.
So I think students don't reallyunderstand the whole process
either, and not understandingbecomes a roadblock. Because,
like, it's kind of a lot ofadmin, I think. And when when
(09:06):
it's a lot of admin, people arekind of like, oh, it's fine.
Like, I'll deal with itinternally.
And, you know, for somestudents, that works, but it's a
lot of trauma to be keepinginside you, I think, especially
if it's happening on aconsistent basis, which, you
know, it does happen.Unfortunately, a lot of these
students, it's not like a onceoff sort of racism thing. It's
like consistent sort of,marginalization from the people
(09:29):
around them. So I think I'mworking on making the BIPOC
department more visible andmyself more visible so people
know that I am someone that isapproachable. And not just me,
but the rest of my executive aswell, that we are just people
that you can reach out to nomatter what, which is definitely
daunting.
And in first year, it would havebeen daunting for me to reach
out to some third year I hadn'tknown before. But I just wanna
(09:51):
make it so clear that I, as theBIPOC officer, I really just
wanna represent the BIPOCdepartment. That is my goal at
the end of the day. I think,especially with ANUSSA, it gets
conflated in student politicssometimes. But that's like
student politics isn't why Idecided to become the BIPOC
officer.
I am so far removed from that. Ibecame BIPOC officer because I
(10:11):
am just genuinely passionateabout issues and fighting
against racism.
Interviewer (10:16):
Let's talk about the future looking forward. What
are your main goals for 2025 asBIPOC officer?
BIPOC Officer (10:21):
Mentioned the racism report before, so that's,
like, a main goal to get thatout. Me and my advocacy officer,
Anenia, have been working reallyhard with that. We've been
really fortunate enough that wehave some contacts, especially
some ANU professors that havebeen helping us out with
drafting these survey questions.It's a very long process. The
racism report, you know, we haveto draft the survey questions,
(10:42):
get someone to look throughthem, and eventually send them
off to the ethics committee ofANU before we can actually
release a survey.
So it's a strenuous process,it'll take a while. But we
started off early, so I'm reallyexcited to get through this. In
previous years, the racismreports have kind of just been
very general about racism atANU. For a racism report, we
(11:02):
didn't want ours to be as broad,so we decided to hone in on
racism at residential hallsinstead. We decided to do this
because we figured that ANU isin a very unique position where
you have such a large populationof students living on campus,
and I just don't think any otheruniversity in Australia has
(11:23):
that.
Like, everyone has on campusaccommodation, but we have I
think it's 11 or 12 is thenumber, but a huge chunk of
people living on campus. And Ipreviously lived on campus for
two years, so I know what sortof stuff got swept under the
rug. And having that experience,I'm like, yeah. This is
something that needs to bereally focused on. This is
(11:45):
something that really needs tobe addressed because I just
don't think it's happening inthe same way at other
universities.
And we think, hopefully, becauseour recommendations will be more
so specific to res halls, it'llbe easier to implement them and
easier for the ANU, you know, towork with us on accepting them.
Another thing we have coming up,we have the BIPOC zine. It's
(12:06):
kind of just an outlet for ourBIPOC students to get creative.
So if you have any visual art,any written work that you'd like
to submit, feel free to do it.It doesn't even have to be
related to being BIPOC.
It could just be about you. Ourtheme for this year is reclaim
and resist. So if you haveanything along the lines, feel
free to submit it. We are happyto take on anything. We just
(12:29):
really wanna showcase BIPOCartwork, BIPOC creatives, And
then hopefully, we'll belaunching the zine in Bushwick
of semester two.
So really excited for that.
Interviewer (12:37):
Speaking of things that you're excited about, what
do you think that you're mostexcited about either this
semester or this year?
BIPOC Officer (12:43):
Obviously, really excited for zine and racism
rapport. Like, I think those aregonna be really huge. Our two
huge social events of the year,we've got our semester one
party, which will happen May 10.Don't quote me on that. Really
excited.
The theme is BIPOC rage. Oh. Wehave been fortunate enough to
get Shadows, previously known asSideway, to host us as the
(13:06):
venue. So I'm really excited.We'll be putting out EOIs for
photographers and DJs soon.
So if you're a BIPOC studentwith interest in either field
and you'd love to showcase yourtalents, please let us know
because we'd love to have you.And then in semester two, we
have our annual BIPOC ball,which is always really
beautiful. We haven't startedplanning that. That's quite far
in the future, but it's alwaysit's always really gorgeous. And
(13:29):
I've been to my fair share ofballs, I do think BIPOC ball is
my favorite.
I want everyone to be there.It's always such a good event.
People come dressed up. Peopleoften come dressed up in the
clothes of their culture as
Interviewer (13:39):
well, which I
BIPOC Officer (13:40):
think is really beautiful. Yeah. I've asked my
sister to buy me something fromMalaysia because that's where
I'm from, for BIPOC ball.Because I'm like, now that I'm
the officer, I really wannarepresent, you know, my
heritage. And I love when peopledo that.
Interviewer (13:53):
Yeah. That's lovely.
BIPOC Officer (13:54):
But, yeah. BIPOC ball and semester one party.
Keep your eyes out, guys. It'llbe a good time.
Interviewer (14:00):
Now if you wanna get in touch with the BIPOC
department, you can reach out tothem on Instagram,
anu.bipoc.department. They alsohave weekly meetings, is it?
Yes. On Wednesdays at 5PM. Youcan also stop by the BIPOC base
located in the Hayden AllenBuilding.
BIPOC Officer (14:14):
Definitely keep an eye on our Instagram. We post
our weekly calendars there, andhow you can get involved is all
there. I am happy to speak toanyone. My office hours are from
four to 5PM on Wednesdays. I'llbe in the BIPOC Base.
Or if you aren't available then,feel free to reach out to me via
Instagram or my email, which issa.BIPOC@anu.edu.au. Feel free
(14:37):
to shoot me a message. I amwilling to make whatever work
around your schedule. Get keen,guys. I'm excited for this year,
and I'm excited to shareeverything with you.
Interviewer (14:45):
Thank you so much for coming
BIPOC Officer (14:46):
in today. Thank you for having me, Grace. I
really appreciate it.
You're listening to Warony Radio. Today, I'm here
with Alicia from the BIPOCdepartment. How are you today,
Alicia?
BIPOC Officer (00:15):
I'm good. Thanks, Grace. Thank you for having me
today.
Interviewer (00:17):
Now what is your department? What or who do you
represent?
BIPOC Officer (00:21):
So I am currently the twenty twenty five officer
for the BIPOC department. Thatstands for black, indigenous,
and people of color. So if youfall under that group, if you
identify as that group,basically, we are the department
for you. If you fall under aracial minority, we understand
that it can be difficultnavigating ANU as, you know,
progressive as a universitytries to be. You know, there are
(00:42):
still definitely issues, and weare here for you whenever you
have faced racial discriminationor if you simply just wanna get
in touch with other people thatidentify as a racial minority.
I also wanna make it reallyclear that even if you don't
present as BIPOC in, you know,the conventional matter, say if
you're white passing or you'remixed, the BIPOC department is
(01:03):
always here for you too. There'sno certain way that you need to
present to be accepted as partof the BIPOC department. If you
identify as BIPOC and if thatresonates with you, you
definitely have a home with usas well. And if you ever have
issues with people, you know,not understanding your identity
and the way that you perceiveyour own culture, then that's
something you can definitelyreach out to us about as well.
Interviewer (01:25):
Yeah. So it has a really, really broad definition,
and it's really about, like,strengthening community and,
like, advocacy as well.
BIPOC Officer (01:32):
100%. I know for a lot of BIPOC people, including
myself, family is a very bigpart of our culture. And for a
lot of people, to ANU also meansmoving away from our family. So
you're moving away from theculture, and I've experienced
that since moving to ANU. I felta bit disconnected with my BIPOC
identity just because I wasn'tconstantly surrounded by my
family as I was used to in highschool.
(01:53):
So the BIPOC department has beenso helpful in the way that
everyone else is alsoexperiencing this disconnect,
and we create our own family ofsorts where we can share our
culture and we feel like we'reall accepted under this mix and
combination of differentcultures to create something
brand new for all of us. Yeah.It's definitely so important
navigating, I guess, like apredominantly white society and,
(02:16):
you know, in a colonialgovernment that our experiences
are gonna be very different incomparison to our white peers
and making sure that we know westand in solidarity with each
other regardless of what facetof BIPOC identity we identify
as, coming together and sharingthat with us, regardless of
whether our stories aredifferent or the same. And just
understanding and being therefor one another, I think, is
(02:38):
essential to the BIPOCdepartment and just the overall
BIPOC community in ANU and inCanberra as well.
Interviewer (02:44):
What are the main things that you do? Like, how do
you work to represent, advocatefor, or provide services for the
ANU students in your department?
BIPOC Officer (02:52):
ANU BIPOC department has always maintained
a very healthy balance ofadvocacy and also social life as
well. We obviously wannaadvocate for the rights of
students here, but we also wannacreate, you know, somewhere
that's fun, somewhere that's,like, friendly and not
completely wrapped up in biggerissues. Although very important,
sometimes you do just reallywanna let loose with your, like,
BIPOC mates. You don't alwayswanna be talking about racism at
(03:15):
the same time. So it's creatingthat healthy balance so you are
advocating, but also creating arelaxing space.
A lot of our advocacy stems fromour racism report, which is an
annual report that gets releasedby the BIPOC department. We send
out a survey to students, BIPOCstudents at ANU, regarding
specifically their experiencesat the university, you know, the
(03:35):
racism they face. We gatherthese statistics. We put
together a report andessentially just send out
recommendations to theuniversity on what they can do
better to make this a saferspace for BIPOC students. If I
recall correctly, I think thefirst report came out in 2021.
That might be incorrect, soapologies. But since then, we
have been receiving responsesfrom the ANU and are
(03:57):
consistently trying to hold theuniversity accountable because
although they have made somebaby steps, I do feel like it
continues to be a struggle forBIPOC students on the daily.
Another aspect of our advocacyis that I am always here for
disclosure reports. If you faceracism on campus, I am someone
you can come to, and we can lookat options. But even looking at
(04:18):
options on how to address racismcan be very difficult.
It's a very bureaucratic system,and it makes it hard for people
to wanna address these issuesbecause it's kind of like, I
really have to commit todisclosing this, and that can
retraumatize people. It's hardto even just talk about it with
one person, let alone having togo up this ladder of ANU
officials and retell this story,reopen the wounds time and time
(04:41):
again. So I'm working on that.I've been working alongside,
hopefully, the National StudentOmbudsman, which was established
earlier this year on makingthings a lot easier in terms of
reporting this to the universityand the university actually
holding perpetrators of racismaccountable. But aside from
advocacy, we do do social eventsas well.
Every week, we aim to have twoto three events, just sort of
(05:03):
bring people together, letpeople mix and mingle. I
remember in my first year ofuniversity, the BIPOC department
I'm not trying to make it up ormake it seem like a story just
to convince people to come toour events, but this was, like,
my genuine experience. I metsome of my closest friends at
BIPOC events. Like, we have ourChai and Chats where you can
come down and get a free coffeeon us. We have BIPOC Talks,
(05:24):
which is sort of like aconsciousness raising circle.
We discuss deeper topics and ourown experiences, and we like to
collab with a lot of otherdepartments as well, such as
indigenous department, ISD, andqueer. Obviously, there are so
many intersectional issues, andcollaborating with the other
departments creates a saferspace for people who identify
with different minority groupsas well because BIPOC isn't
(05:44):
everyone just one identity.Everyone has multifaceted
identities, and you just wannashare that with everyone
regardless. Being able to workalongside the offices so far
this year, even though we arevery, like, early into the year,
I can see it's I have a lot ofadmiration for them. They all
just seem so passionate abouttheir departments, and they
truly are there, you know, tomake make this university a
(06:06):
better place for the people thatthey represent.
I think, yeah, it's soimportant, and, yeah, I love
them all dearly. Like, it's sucha I'm so grateful for the team
that I'm able to work with.
Interviewer (06:15):
I feel like that's been such a common thread with
all these interviews is everysingle person I've interviewed
has just been so passionateabout their department. So what
are some achievements orsuccesses in your advocacy for
ANU students?
BIPOC Officer (06:27):
As a whole of, like, the BIPOC department?
Yeah. Yeah. So I guess, like, asI mentioned before, the racism
report, having that establishedas a very consistent thing now,
it's just making sure theuniversity doesn't forget that
we're still here, we're stillasking for more. It wasn't just
like a one and done, oh, we'velooked at racism now.
We just, like, give it to theuniversity. Hope they fix it.
No. By doing it on a consistentbasis and making it a norm and
(06:49):
an expectation that thedepartment releases a report
means that we are constantlylooking to the university. The
university is constantly lookingto us and knowing that we are
asking for better.
Another huge achievement, Ithink, occurred at the end of
twenty twenty three. At thetime, Paria, who was a BIPOC
officer, acquired the BIPOC SafeSpace, which is located in
(07:09):
Hayden Allen. If you go to ourInstagram, you can request
access. The BIPOC base isessentially just a little area
where you can do whatever youwant. There's a TV.
There's couches. There's desk.There's a little kitchen. You
can go to study. Go hang outwith your friends.
I won't even lie. Like, on mylunch breaks from work, I will
sometimes go there and just havea little lie down. It's a
completely autonomous space justfor BIPOC students. So if you're
(07:30):
kind of sick of studying inChifley, studying in Murray Ray,
it's too hot outside, join us inBIPOC department. It's really
gorgeous in there.
And being able to get that spacewas such an achievement because,
obviously, a lot of the otherdepartments have safe spaces as
well. And it was kind ofsurprising to me knowing that
BIPOC department didn't haveone. I thought it seemed kind of
obvious. Well, not obvious, butit felt like it should have
(07:51):
happened a while ago. So Ireally respect Haria for getting
us that space, and then Selena,who was my predecessor, for
launching it and making it thebig thing that it is now.
We have maybe 200 students withaccess at this point, which is
such an achievement, and I'm soglad that that is a space for
people to go to when they needit.
Interviewer (08:10):
That's, like, actually shocking because BIPOC
is massive.
BIPOC Officer (08:12):
BIPOC is a huge department. I always like not to
toot my own home, but I think weare one of the bigger
departments just in terms ofpeople that come to, like, our
events and stuff. Yeah. It's ahuge department. So, yeah, the
fact that we didn't a space forsuch a long time.
Yeah. You just feel so relaxedin there. Like, me and my
friends go in there all thetime, and it's you strike up
conversations with anyone inthere. It's kind of like, even
if you don't know them, it'slike, oh, we're both in the
BIPOC, like, safe space. Let's,like, have a chat.
Interviewer (08:35):
We've kind of touched on this before in some
previous questions, but what doyou think are some roadblocks or
main issues that affect studentsyou represent, and how are you
working to change these at ANU?
BIPOC Officer (08:46):
I mentioned before the system,
unfortunately, is verybureaucratic in terms of being
able to report racism and howthat can go up further to
actually have a consequence forthe people perpetrating racism.
So I think students don't reallyunderstand the whole process
either, and not understandingbecomes a roadblock. Because,
like, it's kind of a lot ofadmin, I think. And when when
(09:06):
it's a lot of admin, people arekind of like, oh, it's fine.
Like, I'll deal with itinternally.
And, you know, for somestudents, that works, but it's a
lot of trauma to be keepinginside you, I think, especially
if it's happening on aconsistent basis, which, you
know, it does happen.Unfortunately, a lot of these
students, it's not like a onceoff sort of racism thing. It's
like consistent sort of,marginalization from the people
(09:29):
around them. So I think I'mworking on making the BIPOC
department more visible andmyself more visible so people
know that I am someone that isapproachable. And not just me,
but the rest of my executive aswell, that we are just people
that you can reach out to nomatter what, which is definitely
daunting.
And in first year, it would havebeen daunting for me to reach
out to some third year I hadn'tknown before. But I just wanna
(09:51):
make it so clear that I, as theBIPOC officer, I really just
wanna represent the BIPOCdepartment. That is my goal at
the end of the day. I think,especially with ANUSSA, it gets
conflated in student politicssometimes. But that's like
student politics isn't why Idecided to become the BIPOC
officer.
I am so far removed from that. Ibecame BIPOC officer because I
(10:11):
am just genuinely passionateabout issues and fighting
against racism.
Interviewer (10:16):
Let's talk about the future looking forward. What
are your main goals for 2025 asBIPOC officer?
BIPOC Officer (10:21):
Mentioned the racism report before, so that's,
like, a main goal to get thatout. Me and my advocacy officer,
Anenia, have been working reallyhard with that. We've been
really fortunate enough that wehave some contacts, especially
some ANU professors that havebeen helping us out with
drafting these survey questions.It's a very long process. The
racism report, you know, we haveto draft the survey questions,
(10:42):
get someone to look throughthem, and eventually send them
off to the ethics committee ofANU before we can actually
release a survey.
So it's a strenuous process,it'll take a while. But we
started off early, so I'm reallyexcited to get through this. In
previous years, the racismreports have kind of just been
very general about racism atANU. For a racism report, we
(11:02):
didn't want ours to be as broad,so we decided to hone in on
racism at residential hallsinstead. We decided to do this
because we figured that ANU isin a very unique position where
you have such a large populationof students living on campus,
and I just don't think any otheruniversity in Australia has
(11:23):
that.
Like, everyone has on campusaccommodation, but we have I
think it's 11 or 12 is thenumber, but a huge chunk of
people living on campus. And Ipreviously lived on campus for
two years, so I know what sortof stuff got swept under the
rug. And having that experience,I'm like, yeah. This is
something that needs to bereally focused on. This is
(11:45):
something that really needs tobe addressed because I just
don't think it's happening inthe same way at other
universities.
And we think, hopefully, becauseour recommendations will be more
so specific to res halls, it'llbe easier to implement them and
easier for the ANU, you know, towork with us on accepting them.
Another thing we have coming up,we have the BIPOC zine. It's
(12:06):
kind of just an outlet for ourBIPOC students to get creative.
So if you have any visual art,any written work that you'd like
to submit, feel free to do it.It doesn't even have to be
related to being BIPOC.
It could just be about you. Ourtheme for this year is reclaim
and resist. So if you haveanything along the lines, feel
free to submit it. We are happyto take on anything. We just
(12:29):
really wanna showcase BIPOCartwork, BIPOC creatives, And
then hopefully, we'll belaunching the zine in Bushwick
of semester two.
So really excited for that.
Interviewer (12:37):
Speaking of things that you're excited about, what
do you think that you're mostexcited about either this
semester or this year?
BIPOC Officer (12:43):
Obviously, really excited for zine and racism
rapport. Like, I think those aregonna be really huge. Our two
huge social events of the year,we've got our semester one
party, which will happen May 10.Don't quote me on that. Really
excited.
The theme is BIPOC rage. Oh. Wehave been fortunate enough to
get Shadows, previously known asSideway, to host us as the
(13:06):
venue. So I'm really excited.We'll be putting out EOIs for
photographers and DJs soon.
So if you're a BIPOC studentwith interest in either field
and you'd love to showcase yourtalents, please let us know
because we'd love to have you.And then in semester two, we
have our annual BIPOC ball,which is always really
beautiful. We haven't startedplanning that. That's quite far
in the future, but it's alwaysit's always really gorgeous. And
(13:29):
I've been to my fair share ofballs, I do think BIPOC ball is
my favorite.
I want everyone to be there.It's always such a good event.
People come dressed up. Peopleoften come dressed up in the
clothes of their culture as
Interviewer (13:39):
well, which I
BIPOC Officer (13:40):
think is really beautiful. Yeah. I've asked my
sister to buy me something fromMalaysia because that's where
I'm from, for BIPOC ball.Because I'm like, now that I'm
the officer, I really wannarepresent, you know, my
heritage. And I love when peopledo that.
Interviewer (13:53):
Yeah. That's lovely.
BIPOC Officer (13:54):
But, yeah. BIPOC ball and semester one party.
Keep your eyes out, guys. It'llbe a good time.
Interviewer (14:00):
Now if you wanna get in touch with the BIPOC
department, you can reach out tothem on Instagram,
anu.bipoc.department. They alsohave weekly meetings, is it?
Yes. On Wednesdays at 5PM. Youcan also stop by the BIPOC base
located in the Hayden AllenBuilding.
BIPOC Officer (14:14):
Definitely keep an eye on our Instagram. We post
our weekly calendars there, andhow you can get involved is all
there. I am happy to speak toanyone. My office hours are from
four to 5PM on Wednesdays. I'llbe in the BIPOC Base.
Or if you aren't available then,feel free to reach out to me via
Instagram or my email, which issa.BIPOC@anu.edu.au. Feel free
(14:37):
to shoot me a message. I amwilling to make whatever work
around your schedule. Get keen,guys. I'm excited for this year,
and I'm excited to shareeverything with you.
Interviewer (14:45):
Thank you so much for coming
BIPOC Officer (14:46):
in today. Thank you for having me, Grace. I
really appreciate it.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.