New Students' Union President

Rahul Mansigani studied law at Robinson College, graduating last June. He was brought up in North London, and went to St Paul’s School in Mill Hill and Queen Elizabeth’s School for Boys in Barnet.

“My German and English teachers were particularly supportive,” he said. “And the school drew on a tradition of achievement and responsibility.” Before starting his degree he took a gap year, working in an orphanage in India and travelling in the US.
 

Rahul’s family are of Indian descent. His father is finance officer of a restaurant company and his mother works in the charity sector. "My family always put a lot of emphasis on education, and it was always expected that I would work hard and aim high,” he said.
 

During his time as an undergraduate Rahul made a significant contribution to his college as president of the JCR, as well as working as treasurer of the Union Society. He describes his time as a Cambridge student as “wonderful” and “excellent”.

As CUSU president Rahul intends to concentrate his energies on three key areas: access, the future of higher education funding, and student facilities.

CUSU is one of the few student unions in the country to have a full-time access post, and Rahul will be working hard to support this year’s CUSU access officer, Andy McGowan.

“When I was a student I was shocked by first hand accounts from other students who had been advised by their teachers not to apply to Cambridge,” said Rahul. “We need to get the message across to those teachers and develop our work with pupils in years 9 and 10.”

In addition to working with schools and colleges, Rahul hopes to get across the message that “access doesn’t stop at the door”. “We need to make sure that high profile positions in student societies and JCRs better reflect the diversity of the student population in Cambridge”.

Rahul describes the cuts planned for HE funding as “potentially damaging and an example of short-term thinking”. “At CUSU we’ll be doing all we can to oppose the cuts to education,” he said.

Rahul has taken over from outgoing CUSU president, Tom Chigbo. “I’d like to thank Tom for all he’s done – he’s really raised the profile of CUSU and done so much for access in particular,” he said.

Once his term as CUSU president is over, Rahul will be taking up a traineeship with London law firm Norton Rose.

“Eventually I’d like to be in a role with an international dimension,” he said. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities that Cambridge gave me – studying law here was a good choice for me.”