From housing justice and live music to strategic committee work, Sajid Khan’s term as Campaigns and Engagement Officer has been about making Queen’s a more just, more connected place for students.
As he wraps up his year, we sat down to talk about the highlights, challenges and advice for future students.
Q: How would you sum up your year as Campaigns and Engagement Officer?
A: Relentless, meaningful, occasionally frustrating, and ultimately empowering. It’s the kind of role where you can go from helping write policy on housing reform in the morning to emceeing Battle of the Bands at night. There’s a weird joy in that chaos. I came into this role to challenge the status quo, and I think we’ve done that in both loud and quiet ways.
Q: One of your biggest focuses this year was working on the student housing co-operative. What’s the story there?
A: That came from a student referendum passed a few years ago. Alongside the Welfare Officer and the NUS-USI President, we flew out to Geneva to join the Pan-European Student Housing Co-operative Conference and learn from other co-ops. We learned a lot there about the differing legal, governance and financial structures that co-operatives can take, and I used that to develop a proposal for a Queen’s Student Housing Co-operative. The long-term vision is affordable, democratically run student housing owned by students, Queen’s and the SU. Still a ways to go on the project, but the first big steps have been taken in the approval process and the institutional will is there to see the rest of this through. I genuinely believe that this has the potential to change the landscape of student housing in Belfast, and to offer empowerment to students in a sphere of their lives that is often out of their control.
Q: What are you most proud of from your time as a Student Officer?
A: The Belfast Student Housing Co-op is up there. Seeing the Mandela Hall packed out for Battle of the Bands was also a huge highlight. We had big wins, like the increased maintenance loan, and smaller ones too. I sat on conduct and academic offences panels where I know student representation made a real difference. Without it, outcomes for some of our students would’ve been much harsher. I’m proud that I was able to help in those instances.
Q: What were your biggest challenges in the role?
A: Patience and managing expectations. You come in full of fire, but universities often want steady reform, and decisions can take longer that you anticipate. Take the University becoming a University of Sanctuary. That’s really the culmination of a decade of SU activism and advocacy. Balancing student urgency with institutional reality is a learning curve but persistence does pay off.
Q: Was there anything that surprised you about the role?
A: People see the speeches or the protests, but a huge part of the job is behind the scenes. Sitting on committee meetings, relationship building, diplomacy. It’s not always loud work, but it’s vital for change.
Q: What skills have you gained from being a Student Officer?
A: So many. Policy writing. Campaign strategy. Chairing meetings. Running events. Lobbying senior university figures. It’s basically a crash course in community organising and institutional politics.
Q: The Campaigns and Engagement Officer role is changing to Activities and Engagement Officer next year. Why is that?
A: All Officers campaign, it comes with the role. The name change just puts more focus on supporting student-led activity across the board: campaigning, enterprise, volunteering, and clubs and societies. It reflects the range of ways students get involved and make an impact.
Q: Do you have any advice for future Student Officers?
A: Imposter syndrome can hit hard when you’re sitting in rooms with senior management and trying to make sure student voices are taken seriously. Don’t overthink it. You’re there for a reason and overtime you’ll grow into it.
