UPDATE #1: Met w/ KCLSU- read entirety for details & directives

Thank you to all that have supported this petition, KCLMC is very grateful for your signatures and comments!

For nearly a full academic year, I was dismissed and ignored by KCLSU and KCL whenever I raised my concerns about the student group storage situation. In a fit of frustration over the total non-engagement I was getting from both KCLSU and KCL, I decided to go public.* In the week that has passed since first going public, KCLMC alumni and members have really rallied together to support this cause. It has been very touching to see our community come together over this. It has also been equal parts validating and infuriating to have former KCLMC Committee members from as far back as 2015 reach out to me to share their own experiences of KCLSU dysfunction apropos gear storage and beyond. That something as simple and straightforward as storage has been a historical struggle is unacceptable. It needs to end here.

Since going public, I finally got that in-person meeting with KCLSU that I have been chasing for so long. All of the following featured:

1) I explained in great detail the serious health and safety and functionality** issues KCLMC has with the Sports Store in its current state.

2) I explained in great detail the necessary medium and long-term solutions to (1).

3) I expressed my displeasure with KCLSU's mismanagement of this issue in both procedure and outcome. I made specific recommendations for preventing this type of mismanagement in the future, such as increased transparency about KCLSU's internal hierarchy through a searchable staff directory.

Let it be noted that I feel like a broken record at this point because I have been sending emails about (1), (2), and (3) to the ostensibly responsible parties since October of 2021. My predecessors have also been very vocal about all of the above.

4) I directly asked the KCLSU staffer how and why (3) occurred on both an individual and institutional level. The answer I got was generally apologetic and detail unspecific. 

5) When I raised the possibility of moving into a different space, the KCLSU staffer told me that talks had been ongoing with KCL about acquiring more space for KCLSU for several years with no result. I asked why- the response was not enlightening. I directly asked who the folks on the the KCL side of these apparently ongoing conversations were- he responded "the estate team"; I wanted to know who the individuals on the estate team actually are- the KCLSU staffer told me he did not know and therefore could not answer.

The exchanges detailed in (4) and (5) were not particularly confidence inspiring as the questions I asked were all very simple, yet the answers I received were generally convoluted and unspecific. 

6) I pointed out that nothing in (5) alters the basic truth that existing KCLSU spaces should and could be substantially improved by some basic organizational measures and that the failure on KCLSU's part to institute those measures is indefensible. The KCLSU staffer agreed.

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So, what did this meeting actually achieve? Great question, and until I can show you some actual results, my answer is not a damn thing. However, there is cause for some measured optimism as the following commitments were made:

A) KCLSU will publicly take ownership of the fact that they have mishandled this issue on an institutional and individual level. Specifically,  KCLSU mishandled this issue by continually failing to be communicative, transparent, and responsive to KCLMC's serious and legitimate concerns about the Sports Store. This constituted negligence.

B) KCLSU will publicly commit to specific objectives to improve KCLMC's storage situation within a specific and acceptable timeframe. KCLMC has clearly communicated what these specific objectives and timeframes are to KCLSU (& I will do so again in a follow up email once this has been posted). See below for quick summary.

In the short to medium term, this means providing locking cages, hooks, and clear plastic bins. I would like KCLSU to place these orders immediately and keep the KCLMC committee regularly updated. I will be providing the SU with links to appropriate products. I think it is more than generous to allow the whole process from purchase to installation until the end of April 2022. These modest improvements would render the Sports Store an acceptable interim solution for KCLMC (which is what it was always intended to be anyway!).

In the longer term, this means potentially relocating KCLMC to a more appropriate KCLSU storage space for exclusive usage. To this end, KCLSU needs to be actively pursuing a solution and keeping KCLMC Committee abreast of developments. In terms of timeframe, I expect KCLSU, KCL, and KCLMC can all work together over the summer to identify an appropriate space.

I expect KCLSU to fulfill their commitment of publicly acknowledging both A and B within the week.

The KCLSU staffer I spoke to was polite and apologetic- but, apologies and promises are easy to make, what actually matters is outcomes. In order to keep this issue on the agenda and ensure actual follow-through, it is essential to continue raising public awareness and engagement. I say this because experience has unfortunately taught me that commitments made in private by SU staff are meaningless because they don't materialize. Actions, or lack thereof, speak far louder than words.

In closing, I limited my expectations going into this meeting, and I have limited expectations walking out of it. I truly hope that the SU will put its money where its mouth is because it is the simple and right thing to do. I will certainly continue to do my best to compel them to do so. I wish I could walk away from this feeling confident that things would change appropriately without my insistence. I already have a lot on my plate between running KCLMC, completing my coursework, writing my dissertation, spending time with my friends and family, and making the most of my last few months as an undergraduate- frankly, it's personally offensive to me that watchdogging the SU is also on that list. I just want the institutions and people that are supposed to support student groups to actually live up to their remit. I do not think that is too much to ask. 

Manifesting this is the start of a more functional working relationship with KCLSU, not just for KCLMC, but for all student groups.

I will continue posting updates here and across KCLMC's social medias as appropriate.

PS: Thank you to the KCLMC Gear Sec, Alexander Castle, for being my +1 at this meeting and taking careful notes.

* To get specific: I CC'd absolutely every KCLSU email address I could dig up on numerous emails detailing the entire situation. When this tactic produced no response, I reached out the KCL Health and Safety Department TWICE. To date, the only response I have from the KCL Health and Safety Department is an automated reply saying that they are operating at only 60% staffing capacity. I cannot overstate the ridiculousness of the situation.

** Let me be clear: the dysfunctional storage situation negatively affects all student groups that use these spaces. So, please, take it upon yourselves to share this petition with any KCL group chats that you are a part of. I have spoken to a number of other club's Presidents and every single one of them has a storage horror story of their own and is expressly supportive of my efforts because they would benefit as well. If you are part of a KCL student group and this sounds like it affects you, contact your group's committee and encourage them to reach out to me by DMing @KCLMC on Instagram or sending an email to kclmc.committee@gmail.com. I would love to chat with them.