Student Club Executive - Empowering Students

Article by Lola Eastaugh, UC 2nd Year Student and Marketing Intern

At University College (UC), we take pride in being a community where students are empowered to make decisions that reflect student values and priorities to shape student-life.

To ensure the success of the residential student body, a Student Club Executive forms each year. Made up of fourteen elected students, the executive ensures each voice of the student body is represented through various roles and responsibilities.

Read on to find out about each of the executive roles and who has been working hard in their respective roles so far in 2025.

President - Alexia Bennett

Our 2025 Student Club President is Alexia Bennett. Leading the executive team, Alexia backs new initiatives while assisting in the planning of sporting, cultural, social and wellbeing events that make up the 2025 calendar. Within her role Alexia has many meetings including with stakeholders, the College Council, as well as with the Intercollegiate College Council and the Presidents Committee, all with the aim of ensuring University College runs to the best of its ability.

Alexia wishes to emphasise on top of her admin roles, her key responsibility is to support the students at University College and encourages anyone with questions, concerns or ideas to not hesitate in reaching out to her.

Vice President – Finn Love

As the 2025 Vice President, Finn Love’s role is to support our President while assisting in the organisation of events and ensuring the transparent communication between the UC Exec, College staff and the UC student body.

Finn also leads the organisation of fun, college-bonding events such as Rowing Day (semester 1) and Assassin’s Week (semester 2). Involvement is such a large part of the community at UC, and Finn encourages everyone to get around these events whether it be through participation or just showing support.

Secretary – Sam Vea (Semester 2 - Paddy Hayes)

Sam Vea is the 2025 UC Secretary, where he has a core focus on communication and organisation. Transparency is important to Sam as he ensures all decisions, whether they be from the exec or admin, are communicated on a variety of platforms. Minutes from the executives key discussions are accessible to all UC’ers via the 2025 UC Facebook page, alongside quick links, information regarding the student club calendar/ events as well as feedback forms.

Organisationally, Sam works behind the scenes to facilitate elections, meetings and manages legal obligations of the Student Club Body such as legal paperwork and annual statements.

Treasurer – Maddie Haigh

Maddie Haigh is our Treasurer and she works closely with the student exec team and College staff to budget the Student Club funds for the year. Because of this, she assists in the planning of all events and occasions that require spending to ensure that the club can use its assets to the best of its ability.

Equity Rep – Hamish Cameron (Semester 2 - Alex Lowthe)

Stepping into a fairly new role of Equity Rep, Hamish’s role ensures every resident feels accepted and welcomed into residential college student life. This year, Hamish has put together UC’s first ever Equity Committee ensuring all student voices are represented.

As well as building a strong community inside our college, this role raises awareness and funds for important organisations. This includes election-based and financial literacy information sessions and supporting minority groups within the broader community.

Sport Representatives – Ali Jackson & Dude Kelly

UC has a strong passion for sport, seeing it as a way to get involved, meet new people and show off our spirit! Leading the program this year are Ali Jackson and Dude Kelly. The pair are responsible for organising, scheduling and running each and every one of the 16 sports the college has to offer.

Ali and Dude want to encourage every student to participate, no matter what experience one might have in a sport. By doing this while bringing enthusiasm and respect for other University of Melbourne residential colleges that we compete against, UC’s culture of a successful and fun program will continue.

Social Secretaries – Paddy Hayes & Hilary Clark (Semester 2 - George Ingram & Hilary Clarke)

Paddy Hayes and Hilary Clark have both undertaken the role of social secretary for 2025. Their role involves organising UC Events throughout the year.

Kicking the year off with a RodeO-week Tern (internal party) and the Commencement after party, Paddy and Hilary coordinate with College staff and Maddie the treasurer as well as any external vendors to ensure events such as these are possible. They organise UC’s traditional Boat Cruise and UC Day which are always a highlight as the whole college joins together to celebrate UC.

A primary goal of our social secretaries is to create events where friendships can be built across all age groups with fun and happy memories so encourage everyone to come along or help in coming up with ideas to achieve this.

International Representative – Ella Manning

From New Zealand, our 2025 International Representative is Ella Manning. Her role on exec is to focus on supporting our international students in their transition to university, college life and a new country. Having a first hand experience of some challenges that arise from being in a foreign environment, Ella will support anyone through difficulties.

In her role Ella will also be running a variety of cultural events throughout the year to teach everyone about new cultures and experiences! This happens through themed dinners and traditional activities which students always find interesting.

ICAC Representative – Pip Malbarry

Pip Malbarry has stepped into the role of Intercollegiate Activities Coordinator (ICAC) where she represents UC in the planning of all activities that involve other colleges. Key events throughout the year include the Lip Dub, Step-Up dance competition, the musical production, Battle of the Bands and dinner swaps!

Coordinating with the ICAC president and committee, Pip looks forward to many of these events and can’t wait to see everyone getting involved.

Wellbeing Representative – Oscar Rayel

UC emphasises the importance of prioritising wellbeing, particularly during stressful parts of the semester. To help facilitate this support is Wellbeing Representative Oscar Rayel. This role involves working with the student body to create a community where mental, emotional and social wellbeing is at the forefront of all operations.

Organising events with the Wellbeing Committee such as wellbeing week (Semester 1) and spirit week (Semester 2), Oscar hopes to ensure every student feels supported, connected and heard so students feel comfortable having open conversations about mental health and wellbeing.

First Year Representatives – Thomas Dunnett and Shannon Kelly

Thomas Dunnett and Shannon Kelly are this year’s First Year Representatives. They act as the voice of all first-year students, bringing their ideas, wants and any concerns to the executive meetings.

Thomas and Shannon want to ensure this year is as rewarding as it can be, so encourage any residents to tell them about any ideas, so they can create great events and foster a warm inclusive community.

Each member of the 2025 Student Club Executive brings their own strengths, passions, and commitment to fostering an inclusive, vibrant, and supportive environment at University College. Through their efforts, UC continues to be a place where student voices are heard, ideas are put into action, and community thrives. With this dedicated team at the helm, 2025 has so far been an exciting and memorable year for all UC residents.