At the University of Sydney, various spaces that intend to forge student communities can often falter, instead warping into constellations of cliques.
In a panic to think of prompts for Honi reporters for this edition, I suggested Cliques, Chairs, and Chancellors as points of inspiration – the trifecta which governs one’s experience at the University. Cliques are immaterial but ubiquitous. Cliques are contagious.
In this edition, you will find the grating and the alienating: Purny Ahmed speaks to the whiteness and exclusivity at the Sydney College of the Arts (while Eddie Gardiner dips into the cut-throat culture in the Juris Doctor [18]). The Tepid Schooner discloses the experiences of cliques in hospitality (13).
Editors of Honi Soit write from inside the cliques. Although we all express an aversion to the idea, it’s true. We write from a long lineage of them. Ariana Haghighi and Sandra Kallarakkal write about the Elephant in the Honi Office, posing the question of who gets to edit Honi (9). Simone Maddison takes on the Chairs and Chancellors of the university, whose corporate clique impacts us all (15).
This week’s feature interrogates points in which student editorial freedom wanes, pouring through the tumultuous history of advertising in Honi (10).
After having waited to write an editorial for Honi, I find myself in Gosper, writing it during the last 10 minutes of layup. In saying that, I have a few cliques of my own to thank…
The student media clique strikes again. Thank you to Bianca Wong, my housemate, and Art Director at UTS’ Vertigo, for her front cover. I am lucky to see her art around me every day.
To old friends. I have made some of my dearest friends through this paper who I know I will have for life. I will not list every name but I will especially thank Deaundre Espejo. Editorial tenures may fade but friendships don’t (nor do bylines).
To Flirt — I hear laughs emanating from the office and I want to return. So I’ll finish the editorial here.
