Safety, Inclusion and International students; Is SASSE doing enough? : An Interview with Karina Drozdova

“Great and challenging” is how Karina Drozdova describes her first year at SASSE. As a recent arrival in Sweden from Latvia, she found the possibilities of the association to be wide as an ocean, but for international students unfortunately deep as a puddle. She decided this had to change and therefore entered the presidential race.

 First, we discuss inclusivity and tolerance, especially towards international students. These values are often preached by SASSE, but Karina points to a “…disconnect between the organization’s public image and its internal reality…”. An example she gives is Swedish speakers being interviewed in their mother tongue, despite this being against SASSE policy. Karina proposes a quota of one non-Swedish speaker at each interview, ensuring that English is the language used, to support a fairer process.

More representation in influential positions is also important to Karina. She wants SASSE to “have more international students on the boards and not only in minor roles”. Being from Stockholm should not put you above an equally qualified international student she explains. She emphasizes that this also applies students from other minority backgrounds.

SASSE’s response to harassment and other misconduct issues is another area where Karina would like to see major improvements. According to her, there is a lack of any real process when an incident occurs, which leads to victims more often being silenced than helped. A clearer process is especially important to the international students, who are many times at a disadvantage due to not speaking Swedish and a lack of connections in Stockholm.

 Karina says she would prioritize changing equality policy and the sexual harassment policy, making it easier for SASSE to look into each case while keeping it fair and discrete. Another suggestion is to choose a qualified person from the board to assess each case. “Making sure everyone feels safe” would be Karina’s goal as president.

A voice for the international students and a proponent of a “truly inclusive and safe” SASSE, no doubt Karina has big plans for her potential term. Whether the members are ready for change and their first international president remains to be seen on election day.