Tuesday, June 9Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Tag: RHUL

SU Elections 2026: Everything You Need to Know
10Mar By Madeline SidgwickNo Comments
News

SU Elections 2026: Everything You Need to Know

By Madeline Sidgwick and Ruby Sharkie, Senior and Associate News Editors We at The Orbital Magazine deem voting in the Royal Holloway Student Union Elections an act of undeniable importance. Below is our summary of the candidates for the roles of President, VP Education, VP Wellbeing and Diversity, and VP Societies and Sports. For full transparency, The Orbital tagged all candidates that we could find on social media in a call-out Instagram story for this piece! Although this may seem like a long article, we recommend you ‘control F’ the issues that you deem most important. The information is all in one place, making it easy to find who stands for the issues you care about. Below is the list of candidates that actively responded to our call-out!  Delilah Ferry-Swainso...
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Royal Holloway’s 2026 LIMUN Delegation Head to Conference
16Feb By Madeline SidgwickNo Comments
News

Royal Holloway’s 2026 LIMUN Delegation Head to Conference

By Madeline Sidgwick, Senior News Editor This weekend, Royal Holloway’s London International Model United Nations Delegation heads to conference.  I had the pleasure of sitting down with Head Delegates Amélie Williams and Hugo Courtney to discuss the weekend ahead, as well as the benefits of LIMUN and being a Head Delegate.  I first asked the pair what the LIMUN conference actually looks like in practice… The conference is a simulation of the various United Nations committees. The weekend requires “grounded” information and resolutions “based entirely on fact”. The members of the delegation are given a variety of committees and countries to represent at the conference each year, and the weekend concludes with awards for the best performers.  “We are hoping t...
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Honestly, Thank you.
23Jan By Lily GregoryNo Comments
Opinion

Honestly, Thank you.

By Lily Gregory, Senior Agony Aunt The university has changed. You see, I did my undergraduate degree here at Royal Holloway and now I’m doing my masters degree. This is my fourth year here and honestly I’ve never seen the university quite like this.   I go out to society events during the evening, and the campus is still busy. People are skating, playing football, chatting, singing, and doing group study sessions. I was shocked. Throughout my undergraduate degree, campus was quiet and never had the energy that it does now. Be it day or night, the campus feels like a university campus rather than a place with academic buildings on it. Since Covid it has felt as though something is missing. Now, I see society events booming, with some having mo...
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Breaking News: SU Board Approves the Ratification of Royal Holloway Israeli Society
14Jan By Madeline SidgwickNo Comments
News

Breaking News: SU Board Approves the Ratification of Royal Holloway Israeli Society

By Madeline Sidgwick, Senior News Editor The Students' Union (SU) Board made the decision to overturn the Societies, Sports and Opportunities Executive (SSO) board members' decision to deny the ratification of Royal Holloway Israeli Society. Members of the SSO board are elected by students throughout the year.  In a statement released at 11am today, Friends of Palestine Society stated “We demand that the SU Board revoke their decision to overturn the democratic and legitimate decision of the SSO, our elected representatives- immediately”.  Israeli Society last night via Instagram stories stated, “Following an appeal the decision not to ratify the Israel Society has been overturned, subject to a few minor conditions. Fantastic news! RHUL will soon have an official Israeli Soc...
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Moving on from University
17Dec By Lily GregoryNo Comments
Lifestyle

Moving on from University

Lily Gregory, Senior Agony Aunt University is supposedly one of the most amazing periods of your life. Graduates only ever sing songs of praise about their time at university. But nobody really tells you what’s next. Sure, they’ll give you advice and tell you that the job market will be okay. But that doesn’t compare to what you or I might experience.  As someone who graduated over the summer of 2025, I wanted to see how people have moved on from university, and what has changed for them since graduation. I spoke to a couple friends who graduated alongside me in August 2025. James studied Maths, Sophie studied English and Creative Writing, and Ashleigh and I studied Classical Studies. No story is the same, and I hope this can help you see that anything is possible once you move...
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The Orbital Investigates: Is Royal Holloway a Politically Alienated Campus?
27Nov By Madeline SidgwickNo Comments
News

The Orbital Investigates: Is Royal Holloway a Politically Alienated Campus?

By Madeline Sidgwick, Senior News Editor Last academic year, over some Crosslands pints, myself and my peers came to the conclusion that Royal Holloway is not a politically active campus. It is a common stereotype that Brits are their most politically active, and adventurous, in their student years; archetypes of student protestors or the leaders of political societies that go on to take high office (the Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson's of the world). Many in the older generation would point to their youth as their time of being ‘politically radical’ or ‘waving the red flag’. Winston Churchill himself can be quoted stating ‘If you are not a Liberal when you are young, you have no heart, If you are not a Conservative when old, you have no brain’.   Now I am not endorsing Mr Churchil...
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Breaking news: Toast makes its return on Monday 17th November!
11Nov By Ruby SharkieNo Comments
News

Breaking news: Toast makes its return on Monday 17th November!

Photo: RHSU Ruby Sharkie, Associate News Editor After teasing it on their Instagram a week ago, the Students' Union (@surhul) has just announced in an Instagram reel that the free entry night-life event Toast will be returning to campus on Monday 17th November 2025.  Unlike last year, the Monday night event will be hosted at the SU venue after the recent closure of the Medicine venue.  This now totals to two mascot-based events next week, one being Quackers on Wednesdays with a big yellow duck mascot, and now Toast.  Although the tickets have not been released on the Royal Holloway Students' Union (RHSU) website, VP Societies and Sports David Gallardo González said in the 11 second reel:  “Come for free entry, cheaper drinks and good vibes, all at the SU”. The re...
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In Conversation with… VP David Gallardo González.
29Oct By Ruby SharkieNo Comments
News

In Conversation with… VP David Gallardo González.

Image by: RHSU By Ruby Sharkie, Associate News Editor Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with and interview the Vice President (VP) of Societies and Sports: David Gallardo González.  We met at the bustling Students’ Union (SU) Helpdesk, with SU team members passing us amidst their daily work.  One of the first things I asked David was to introduce himself and his goals. He said his main goals for the academic year were to meet his Priority 8’s - To make timetables more student-friendly and and making the student events more affordable.  “As a film nerd myself - I want to do a lot of that through social media” The VP graduated from Royal Holloway with a degree in Film but said that it wasn't the defining factor for his win in his campaign.  “I...
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Medicine: The Closure and the Impact
6Oct By Ruby SharkieNo Comments
News

Medicine: The Closure and the Impact

By Ruby Sharkie, Associate News Editor There was once a place at Royal Holloway, unknown to many current first years, that held countless memories for second and third years. Free entry, crowded dancefloors, Toast and a beloved photobooth… Medicine was a hub of socialisation, cheap drinks and themed nights out.  In June 2025, the Royal Holloway Students’ Union (RHSU) board of Trustees decided that Medicine would be closed, and in September, the closure was announced publicly. This came to much distraught and surprise to the students of Royal Holloway, meaning that there were no free-entry bars on campus.  During a time of cost of living and rising student debt, this closure seems counter-intuitive to many. It begs the question: “are universities doing all they can to be acce...
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Sometimes I don’t want change
15Jun By Mya RogersNo Comments
Creative Writing

Sometimes I don’t want change

By Mya Rogers I once thought I knew what love was. I thought it was that person that I had to spend every day with Because I didn’t know what would happen in our time apart, Or holding hands in every place that we went, To keep them close, to not lose sight of their heart. He, that took me on dates as a form of asking for forgiveness, So that I’d forget why I was even upset in the first place, And wrapping me in his arms every time he made me cry, Portraying himself as my saving grace. The boy who was my first everything; So, of course I would think that it was love, You gave just enough, so that I wouldn’t realise all that you took, And I remained thinking of you, as someone sent from above. It’s funny how that has all changed. I’m glad that i...
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