Who Re-prez-ents Us?

It is fair to say that Vision’s recent article on YUSU’s condemnation of Archbishop of York John Sentamu’s comments on gay marriage has caused quite a stir on our website. Students have been entering into a heated debate as to whether Tim Ellis was right to speak out against the Archbishop, with many arguing that he should not be getting involved in an issue that is outside the University, and that he has no right to speak on our behalf.

However, those students are fundamentally wrong. With the YUSU elections looming, now, more than ever, is a vital time to realise why these elections happen, and what we elect people for.

Sure, we make our choices based partly on policies. In fact, a presidential candidate who promised 50p pints at the Courtyard and free iPads for all students would probably end up storming to victory. Yet what we also, and most importantly, elect these people for, is to be a voice for us all.

As YUSU President, Ellis is the figurehead of the University’s student body, he is the one man whose voice will really be heard when an issue affecting students comes to the fore. We, as a collective whole, have elected him to be this voice, and therefore it would be negligent and indeed totally wrong of him not to speak up when he feels there is something to address.

It is a sad mark of today’s society that people (we, the media, being prime examples) are so quick to criticise those in power, and do so at any available opportunity. To me, Ellis only deserves praise for his attack on the Archbishop’s comments. In speaking for us, he has displayed the sort of strength we look for in a leader. Had he sat and let Sentamu’s words pass without so much as a squeak from our students’ union, he would no doubt have been called spineless and weak. He is never going to please everyone with his actions; I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would protest even at the notion of free iPads for all students, but by sitting silently in his office, suppressing the calls of York’s students under a hefty pile of pledges, policies and paperwork, he would be pleasing nobody.

Saying this, I can see why, with this particularly sensitive issue, people have raised concerns over Ellis speaking on the behalf of all students. With the protests over fee rises and the like, in other words, weighty student issues, it would be absurd for the President to not make his voice heard, but the issue of gay marriage is clearly a little different. It is not something that affects all students or is aimed at us directly, yet the city of York and its University are consummately linked, and Ellis rightly felt a need to distance Sentamu’s comments from the student body.

As a University, we are naturally a young community, and without sounding too pretentious, one that should represent the future of this country. Progression and equality have been walking hand in hand for a long time now, and members of the LGBT community are nowadays thankfully seen by most as equals. They can now legally adopt children in the UK, and so why not get married?

As comments on our earlier article point out, numerically, LGBT people make up a small portion of the population, but that does not mean that they do not deserve YUSU’s full support. YUSU, and indeed each college, has LGBT officers for a reason – they are a group that need and deserve representation, though not just by these particular officers.

Ellis clearly feels this way, and as the head of what should be a progressive community, so he should. It is wholly encouraging that he did not hide away and take the easy option by simply leaving YUSU LGBT Officer Cem Turhan to object to the Archbishop’s comments, for he clearly felt that this is an issue that should be supported by the entire student body rather than just its LGBT minority.
With a new President due to be elected later this term, I can only hope that whoever it may be continues to speak out on our behalf and give York’s students a voice on a variety of issues like Tim Ellis has done on this occasion.

On the surface, presidential candidates often appear very alike, with policies often boringly similar and each one appearing as sickeningly passionate about taking on the job as the last. Maybe, before you vote this time around, it is worth thinking about who you want acting as your student voice for the year to come, and whether or not they are up to the job.