As your elected student leaders, our role is to represent and amplify student voices across all areas of DMU. We recognise that the recent announcements around staff redundancies and broader strategic changes have had a real impact across our community which students feel keenly.
Since joining DMU, Vice-Chancellor Professor Katie Normington and her executive team have actively engaged with DSU and consistently championed the student voice. This marks a significant and welcome shift from previous leadership, and we’ve seen first-hand their openness to listening, responding, and including students in shaping the university’s future.
We also recognise the scale of the journey DMU is currently on, one that is challenging but necessary to ensure long-term sustainability. Students in Leicester, those studying overseas, and those arriving in London are all members of DSU, and we are committed to making sure the student experience remains central to changes. To date, we have seen this commitment reflected consistently at all levels within the University, championed by the Vice Chancellor.
We do not lose sight of the fact that these changes affect real people, with real feelings and life impacts. Jobs, security, wellbeing, and the future are at stake and we deeply respect the seriousness of that. We hold the emotional weight of this moment with care, and we remain committed to advocating for students with compassion and clarity.
If there comes a time when DMU’s senior leadership stops listening to the student voice, we will be having very different conversations. But right now, we have seen no evidence of that. We continue to be engaged in university committees, working groups, and strategic conversations, and we feel able to contribute meaningfully and keep students informed.
We believe in constructive dialogue, in the power of respectful disagreement, and in the kind of community where minds meet and people learn from one another.
As always, we welcome any student who wants to talk, whether to raise concerns, ask questions, or share ideas, to get in touch. Listening to you and making sure you're heard is our purpose. We support every member of this community through hard times and hopeful ones.
Signed,
Your DSU Executive Officers 2024/25