The future of the University’s relationship with the NUS is up in the air this week as debates raged considering whether YUSU should remain affiliated to the seven million-strong organisation.
A campus-wide referendum entitled “should York remain affiliated to the NUS” will open from midday tomorrow until next Wednesday. Tim Ngwena, YUSU President, admitted last week that YUSU Sabbatical officers were split on their judgements.
When the same question was posed to campus three years ago, the ‘Yes’ camp won convincingly. This next week is expected to see a number of NUS Executives on campus supporting York’s affiliation.
Ngwena seemed to place his support with the ‘Yes’ camp. He argued that staying with the NUS has many financial benefits, and pointed to a recent £8,500 donation for a recycling unit and £600 toward preparations for the National Demo last year against fee rises.
Susan Nash, NUS Vice-President for Society and Citizenship, represented the NUS in the opening debate held earlier this evening. She argued that the NUS was vital for “resources and the day-to-day running of your Union”.
She continued, “we save you money with information and advice which would cost more to get independently.” She argued that in the current climate of “cuts and redundancy”, staying with the NUS would be the right decision.
Peter Spence, a second year Economics student led the debate against remaining with the NUS. He argued that the “poor reputation reflects badly on the university” and that the cost of NUS membership could be redirected for “more tangible benefits”.
Of particular contention were issues raised by a speaker arguing ‘against’, concerning a recent Jewish Chronicle article reporting support by the NUS for the Islamic University of Gaza. Nash said she believed the speaker’s interpretation “was not an accurate portrayal of what happened at the meeting”.
The ‘No’ camp received particular criticism from a handful of outspoken YUSU LGBT and Women’s committee personalities, who pointed out that all those arguing ‘against’ were “white men”. They relayed their appreciation for the “invaluable” help received by the NUS on a number of campaigns.
“If you want it changed, change it from the inside,” commented Emma Brownbill, a vocal character within the University’s LGBT community and LGBT rep.
A recent referendum at Durham University returned a 60% ‘Yes’ vote to re-affiliate, after a shaky experience away from the NUS. Notable universities not affiliated with the NUS include the University of St Andrews and the University of Southampton.
YSTV Reports: NUS Affiliation Referendum produced by York Student Television, released under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license
You might want to include Imperial College London on that list of Universities with strong, autonomous Unions which act in the student interest (rather than the NUS which contains many individuals seeking to please future political leaders, rather than students).
The one thing that really surprised me from last night was the argument that as a white male I can’t possibly have a view on where YUSU funding is spent. I assume this applies for all other white males on campus and for 7 of the last 10 NUS Presidents.
Particularly strange was that this argument was put forward by someone elected “to campaign for gender equality.”
Voting for.
They save us money both directly and indirectly. A simple raw budget line can’t show how much having the resources of a national student movement is worth.
I’d also point out that if we disaffiliated effectively publicising that fact to ensure the actions of the NUS are not attributed to students in York would cost a fortune and a huge time commitment. Now I don’t agree with everything the NUS does, but I’d rather be involved in the debate, vote for delegates I wish to represent me, influence change in the way the NUS do things than walk away and loose all the advantages they bring.
Vote to re-affiliate. Do it.
Left wing NUS < Independent union that represents all political aspects.
Nobody gives a shit.
Yet this is the second most read article on this website Mr. Rollins?
Nah, it isn’t.
Regardless of the arguments on either side (I am not part of either side’s campaign and actually agree with arguments on both sides)I think there are some important observations that need to be made.
1) There seems to have been very little debate over what is essentially a very important decision. Why haven’t YUSU tried to get more people invlved in the debate. It is all very well holding ‘democratic reviews’ over constitutional changes but there seems to have been very litle change to the facts that the vast majority of students are not involved in the debate over this referendum. YUSU surely have an important role in increasing student participation rather than allowing it to remain isolated to a select clique.
2) I think there is a significant problem with YUSU taking such a definite side in such an important referendum debate. Poeple such as Dan Walker have been actively campaigning for remaining part of the NUS while you would expecting them to be working. Walker left his post above at 11.42am on Friday. I weould have hoped that he would have been carrying out the duties that we as union members have elected him to do and pay him appropriately. I understand also that YUSU, or at least YUSU sabbs have created and printed pro-NUS posters. If this is the case then I think YUSU and the sabbatical officers have a number of questions to answer. Why is YUSU money and resources being spent in this way? Should YUSU not have remained neutral as other Durham student unions such as Durham have in YUSU referendum campaigns? Should they not have sp[ent more time trying to increase participation (see 1 above) or did they feel that if they did this then they would be less likely to get teh result they wanted as it is the normal ‘YUSU clique’ who are most likely to support the NUS?
tl;dr
@Benjamin Hill
1) The debate is ongoing all over campus, Voting is open until 12 noon Wednesday. I don’t see what you are imagining the Union should be doing?
2) YUSU officers are there to represent York students and work in our interest. Given many of them clearly think remaining part of the NUS is for the benefit of York students it seems wholly consistent that the campaign for a Yes vote this week.
I’m not really sure if we should stay in, the costs and benefits seem relatively easy, but the argument for YES that it is “white men” who support NO is intellectually lazy and a better argument should be expected from someone elected to support equality.