The Rise and Decline of Muslim Representation in Student Unions: Motivations and Experiences of Muslim Sabbatical Officers in Student Unions

Student Unions (SUs) play a crucial role in supporting student communities and empowering students as leaders. However, for some communities—namely, Muslim students—this is not always the case, where we find there is a stark feeling of distrust and a poor sense of belonging between Muslim students and their universities, SU, and the National Union of Students (NUS) (Stevenson, 2013; Aune and Stevenson, 2016; NUS, 2018; Hailu et. al, 2018). The challenges of Muslim sabbatical officers are a unique and heightened example of this. With thematic analysis of eight former Muslim sabbatical officers across England, between 2014 and 2023, this chapter investigates the experiences of Muslim student leaders within SUs, from standing for election until their last day in office. These unique but shared challenges include Islamophobia, self-censorship, pacification, hostility, excessive and disproportionate scrutiny on their campaigns, and even false accusations of homophobia and/or antisemitism. They also shared frustration at the lack of cultural and religious competency within their teams, and the inadequate support structures in place as a result, which further compounded their feelings of exclusion and isolation. The chapter explores these experiences and makes recommendations to SUs and the NUS on how to engage, retain, support, and empower Muslim student leaders in their roles.