Activistenpartij Candidate for Faculty of Humanities
Creating and solving problems.
Who is Alivia? Former art student at Rietveld, now studying Cultural Studies. Neuroqueer woman trying to solve or create problems, whichever the situation calls for.
My experiences with activism or student councils started early, when me and fellow classmates ran an unofficial anarchist student council in secondary school. Later, I started volunteering at several queer-related events. Now I work with Spotlight UvA, trying to make a warm international community for queers to feel welcome.
Alivia is not my birth name. Through needlessly complicated bureaucracy, this has exposed me to many issues within UvA that effect not only me. I do not have a student ID, I unexpectedly get addressed by a name I have not used in 20 years, and I am not sure what name is going to be on my diploma. Similar systemic issues affect students with names that are not Dutch. While we can see that this problem is clearly Queerphobic and Racist, it affects everyone one way or another. Especially when considering that this is just the beginning of issues regarding overcomplicated, unforgiving bureaucracy. I would like to fix these issues for every one of us.
Why run with the AP? Student voices are incredibly important in university, and this should be reflected in their ability to vote for the change and representation they want. There is work to be done to grant student voices power. Students need the freedom and safety to protest without the threat of violence. This is why I’m running for student council with the AP, to continue and facilitate activism and make the changes students want.
There are many issues—in neuroqueer terms—we lack object permanency towards. These are issues that need to be addressed regularly, and not only when the system fails visibly or when someone files a complaint. Mental health, safety, social safety, accessibility for disabled people (visible or not), and more! I would like to make sure these issues are not forgotten and get taken care of.
Finally, international students also deserve more support at the UvA. We expected better when moving to this country. It is hard and expensive moving here and settling in. Providing housing and free Dutch classes would be an excellent start but that would only be the beginning to what I have in mind.
Activistenpartij UvA 