During a recent visit to some Scandinavian Universities, I observed some startling differences in the organisation of Student Government there. Lund University in south-west Sweden is one of the oldest universities in Scandinavia, and is built on a rich tradition of student involvement in the running of the institution. Almost every student there is a member of a Nation, to which the closest British equivalent would probably be a College. Historically the Nations were based around regions of the country, students becoming members of the Nation of the area they were from, although now students are able to join any Nation.
These Nations are owned in trust and run purely by students. There are some professional advisers, alumni who went on to work in law or finance and now help out voluntarily (not unlike the external trustees of YUSU), but the day-to-day running of the nation is by a team of full time sabbatical students. This isn’t quite the same as running Alcuin though – the nation has its own bar, club, kitchen and a series of accommodation blocks. Running it is quite a task, and the students do incredibly well. The accommodation is cheaper than commercial rent in the city, and the quality I saw was better than my block in Derwent. Everything in the nation has the advantage of being run for the benefit of its students, and from the stories I heard it seems tenants are looked after very well; not something that can be said for some of the landlords in York. This isn’t to say it’s perfect – it is student accommodation after all, but a student run system seems to be working very well for Lund.
The same applies for the events they run – I’ve never found it particularly easy to get tap water from clubs in York, but most clubs frequented by Swedish students are Nation-run, and water is available without queuing at every bar. Similarly the overzealous revellers who took to the chairs and tables weren’t aggressively thrown out into the street in a way I have seen many times in York, where bouncers try and persuade students to bribe their way back in.
Having a more student-led administration has resulted in services which are clearly more responsive to student needs and wishes than we have here in York. It has also afforded the opportunity for many more students to get involved in running events and facilities, all of which fall under the nation umbrella, opportunities for development which less people in York are able to experience.
Of course this system has developed over hundreds of years. The Nations in Lund, through the Academic Society of Lund, collectively own what can only be described as a large castle in the city centre; home to many of their activities, larger events, formal occasions and a source of revenue for students. It was built in 1848 with the help of a financial gift from the Prince Oscar I of Sweden; its name loosely translates to “Academic Fortress,” complete with battlements and turrets. Suddenly the Student Centre extension looks quite disappointing. Maybe YUSU should write to Prince Philip and ask for some cash?
One of the questions I was asked most frequently in Scandinavia was “what is the perception of us in the UK?” Avoiding too many jokes about IKEA and ABBA; I said honestly that every couple of weeks I’d read a newspaper article explaining how something is done in Sweden, how much better it is than the UK, and questioning why we don’t do things more like that here. It’s striking that after only 5 days I came away with the exact same idea.
I’m not expecting the University to gift the students a couple of colleges and see how we get on with running them, but there is certainly a precedent for students successfully running our own services to a higher standard. Even in York the Courtyard is a prime example of how YUSU has done a much better job than Commercial Services of running a bar on campus. I hope The Lounge and the Hes East bar represent the early stages in improving the student stake in running our campus.