YU-should try harder

As we come to the end of the academic year I can say it has been bitter-sweet. The obvious issue has been the government ‘austerity’ measures that affect us most profoundly; slashes in funding for the education sector and legislation set to assist a rocket in tuition fees for our younger brothers, sisters, and friends.
And yet under this hard gob-stopper shell is a sweetness that came as something of a surprise: massive student protests, from both universities and schools, occupation of campus buildings in most UK institutions, and even protests of solidarity from students in Paris and other major European cities. Perhaps more than any time since the 1960s the thoughts of students have turned to more radical notions, in particular a rejection of established authority, and this is set against the background of the Arab Spring, anti-globalisation, and online freedom activism. The creation of Unileaks cannot be understood separately from Wikileaks.

But here at York, and I suspect at most universities, the fight for justice is perhaps tainted somewhat by the perceived inadequacy of student organisation in the domestic sphere, of which YUSU has a monopoly. I would like to ask whether YUSU, bearing in mind the changing times that we live in and the enlightened goals of our new mass politics, is up to the task. The prevailing attitude among most students that I speak to seems to be one of apathy; people believe that YUSU is little more than an outlet for egotism and career enhancement.

While I actually do not doubt that the likes of Robert Hughes and Tim Ellis have anything but commendable motivations in campaigning to lead the body, who is to say what will happen when they get bogged down in bureaucracy and university agenda? And the fact that most students are not inspired by YUSU campaigns seems pretty undeniable, despite the confusing reality where actually students obviously do care (hence, massive protests). The old adage: “Don’t hate the player…” clearly holds a kernel of truth in this case.

So why does YUSU cause such frustration? I would argue that as a structure with the monopoly on student-establishment relations, it plays a sort of livestock-herder role. We are herded into official lines of ‘communication’ (a buzz word that is so easily thrown out to smooth over the one-sided nature of decision-making in the university) which never seem to get anyone anywhere, and as a result, all of the newly-found energy in the student action movement is quickly lost in the quagmire of ‘process’, ‘reviews’ and ‘amendments’. This act of herding results in the rise of ‘joke motions’ (Brian Blessed as patron of quiet study anyone?) and shows just how valuable students really perceive the union to be.

I believe that the 14,000 or so students of the university will only fully rally around a system in which they can actively take part in, without having to leap over the three-year-long commitment hoop that starts in your almost randomly-allocated college. We will only ever rally around a system where the leaders are not dislocated from the ever-changing concerns of the student body by being paid employees, professional democrats. The student body is organic, and we will only rally around a system that is part of this organic body and not a loose attachment. How that can change, and what kind of organisation will best represent the radical needs of a disenfranchised and largely ignored intellectual body known as ‘students’, is a matter for open debate. But the question of whether YUSU is up to scratch needs to be asked, and we shouldn’t be afraid to answer it with affirmative action.