Originally published by The Howl
Tuna Kunt has run her campaign on a simple, memorable slogan: “Tuna in your sandwich. Tuna in your salad. Tuna in your union.”
Spending as much as 10 hours a day traipsing the corridors of City handing out campaign flyers, the VP for Education candidate has had a lot of people asking about her name.
She has also spotted more than a few people laughing at the official students’ union election posters with her full name tacked on.
Speaking to The Howl, the Turkish national explained that she is not named after the saltwater fish, but the Danube river that runs through eastern and central Europe.
“Two years before I was born, my parents were in Vienna over the Danube on a bridge and they decided to start a family together.
“It’s unisex as well. So, they were like, regardless of the gender, we’re going to name our baby Tuna.”
Her surname, pronounced with a flat vowel, also has a different meaning from its English neighbour. It means ‘strong’ in old Turkish, according to Tuna.
While her name floats below radar in Turkey, it has made life in London a bit tricky for the third-year law student.
“It was always funny,” she began. “I’d go to the post office to pick up my delivery and they’d be laughing, and if that’s the situation I get really firm and kind of annoyed.”
How does she feel about the reaction to her name at City? “I never really made peace with my name until this campaign,” she said. “But for this campaign, it’s been really funny for people, so I’ve been using it as my brand. The blue hair, the fish name – it’s like a brand now.”
That brand has just as big a presence online as it does on campus. At the time of writing, the ‘Vote Tuna for your VP Education’ Facebook group has more than 800 members – many of them voting on Tuna’s policy polls and sharing her memes.
Her name has also been a good conversation starter, giving her plenty of chance to drive out the vote and talk about her manifesto policies.
Lecture capture is at the core of Tuna’s manifesto. “I think for an international student, for students with disabilities as well, it’s very important.
“I tend to miss words, I tend to zone out and I miss classes because everyone misses classes. You get interviews, you go back home, you get sick, your mum visits. I have never seen a student who can say they have been to every single lecture for the past three years.”
She recognises that professors are concerned that a roll out of lecture capture could be the death of attendance, but still believes students should be able to choose between turning up to lectures and watching them from home.
“It’s so simple, I don’t think it should even be a discussion now when most rooms are lecture capture enabled,” she says. “It’s a matter of sitting down with departments to explain to them this is what students demand.”
Tuna says she will also be pushing City to release exam timetables earlier, increase the number of water fountains on campus and offer students £20 of printing credit for printers that use recycled paper.
How does she fancy her chances of winning on this platform? “Very good,” she says. “But I’m not going to get comfortable. I’m going to push as hard as I can.”
Tuna on Tinder
The Howl discovered that Tuna is on Tinder. What’s it like navigating the app with her name? “It’s fun, but most of the time I don’t reply.”
Her favourite chat-up line was from a match who wrote: “You really are a catch.”
Weary of punny one-liners, Tuna’s Tinder profile reads: “Yes, it’s my real name and if you want to make a joke or a pun, please be very creative because I’ve heard it all.”
Tuna shared the choicest chat-up lines from her inbox with The Howl:
“What’s the difference between a fish and a piano? You can tuna piano, but you can’t tuna fish.”
“Unfor-tuna-tely I love a good pun. As long as it’s e-fish-iently timed.”
“Did you hear about that time a million fish washed up on the beach? It was a tuna-mi.”
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