Durham Students' Union
Encyclopedia
Location
DSU occupies and manages Dunelm House, a university-owned building in the centre of Durham where a wide variety of student activities take place. Designed by Architects Co-Partnership, the BrutalistBrutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
, angular concrete building was completed in 1965 under the supervision of architect Sir Ove Arup
Ove Arup
Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE known as Ove Arup, was a leading Anglo-Danish engineer and generally considered to be one of the foremost architectural structural engineers of his time...
, whose Kingsgate Bridge
Kingsgate Bridge
Kingsgate Bridge is a striking, modern reinforced concrete construction footbridge across the River Wear, in Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. It was designed in 1963 by Sir Ove Arup personally, connecting Bow Lane on the historic peninsula in the centre of Durham to Dunelm House on...
, adjacent, opened two years earlier. Built into the steeply sloping bank of the River Wear
River Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
, Dunelm House is notable internally for the fact that the main staircase linking all five levels of the building runs in an entirely straight line. This was intended by the building's architects to create the feeling of an interior street.
In 1968 Dunelm House won a Civic Trust
Civic Trust
The Civic Trust of England was a charitable organisation founded in 1957. It ceased operations in 2009 and went into administration due to lack of funds/...
award, though the architecture of Dunelm House is not generally well liked in the city. On the other hand, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
, the noted architecture historian, considered the building, "Brutalist by tradition but not brutal to the landscape ... the elements, though bold, [are] sensitively composed." Durham City Council's Local Plan notes that the "powerful" building, together with Kingsgate Bridge, "provides an exhilarating pedestrian route ... out into open space over the river gorge".
Welfare
The union provides a number of student welfare services, in addition to those provided by the University. To that end, it employs full-time trained advisors who work in the Advice Centre, runs the DSU Nightbus that ensures students can get home safely, the Accommodation Office and organises "associations" for specific minority groups of students whose interests are deemed to require additional non-collegiateCollegiate university
A collegiate university is a university in which governing authority and functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges...
provision.
Social events
During the late 1960s and the 1970s Dunelm House was a popular music venue, hosting bands including Pink FloydPink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
. According to their drummer Simon Kirke, Free
Free (band)
Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a...
's most popular song All Right Now
All Right Now
"All Right Now" is a rock single by the English rock band Free. The song, released in mid-1970, hit #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "All Right Now" originally appeared on the album Fire And Water, which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed...
was written by bassist Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser is an English songwriter and bass guitarist whose career has lasted over forty years and includes a notable period as one of the founding members, in 1968, at age 15, of the rock band Free.-Peak years :...
and singer Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
in their dressing room in Dunelm House, after a set of slower material had failed to excite the audience.
The current DSU often struggles to match the Durham colleges
Collegiate university
A collegiate university is a university in which governing authority and functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges...
' abilities to organise 'ents' and socials. However, it runs the successful 'Planet of Sound' club night every Friday, which has become the biggest university-wide event in Durham. The DSU has had some success in the year 2006/07 with hosting events with promoters, including nights with acts such as Hed Kandi
Hed Kandi
Hed Kandi is an UK-based record label and a music brand which was established in 1999 by Mark Doyle, specialising in funky, soulful house music. Hed Kandi's catalogue includes both artist albums and various genres of club compilations. As well as producing music albums and compilations, Hed Kandi...
and Pendulum
Pendulum (band)
Pendulum is an Australian drum and bass and electronic rock band founded in 2002 in Perth by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding.Swire and McGrillen were members of the rock band known as Xygen. After hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a club, they were inspired to enter into the drum and...
. It also organises the annual Freshers' Ball and Freshers' Bop early in the first term.
DSU societies
DSU is notable for the high number of ratified societies it supports. There are usually between 120 and 150 DSU-ratified societies at any time. A full and up-to-date list of DSU's societies can be found on the DSU website. These societies do not include the University's assorted athletic- and sports-related clubs which are ratified by DSU's "sister" organisation, the Durham University Athletic UnionAthletic Union
An Athletic Union or Athletics Union usually refers to the group of student sports clubs within a university or other institute of higher education, in the United Kingdom.-General information:...
(DUAU), or college-based societies.
'DUCK'
Unlike many Students' Unions, DSU does not have "RAG weekRAG (student society)
University Rag societies are student-run charitable fundraising organisations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Most universities in the UK and Ireland, as well as some in South Africa and the Netherlands have a Rag...
", but instead, DUCK - Durham University Charities' Kommittee - organises charitable events and activities throughout the year.
A story recently discovered in the DSU archive relates that in 1978 DUCK held a competition to find the most unpopular student in Durham with the intention of throwing them in the river. At the time the story went to print the DSU sabbaticals were the front runners.
DUCK was formed in the 1960s to raise money for local, national and international charities. It also runs a number of expeditions to destinations including Everest, Kilimanjaro and Jordan.
Durham University also runs a humanitarian project in Southern Sri Lanka in partnership with Sri Lankan NGO Sarvodaya. Project Sri Lanka "is an ‘all-inclusive' project", involving undergraduate and postgraduate students and members of academic staff from Durham University, as well as academics and partner organisations in Sri Lanka.
Politics
DSU is intended to be an apolitical democratic organisation. To this end every student has a vote in the principal elections and in the sovereign body of DSU, the Union General Meeting - as in most students' unions. DSU holds two major elections a year, and has pioneered the use of electronic voting to increase participation. In the 2003 and 2004 Sabbatical elections it received the highest turnout of any student union in the UK, a fact used by some to show the continued relevance of DSU to the students of Durham.DSU has succeeded in having a say in national student politics. In 2004 a campaign run by the Union appeared on BBC, ITV and Channel 4 News numerous times throughout the debate over variable tuition charges. A huge number of regional and local TV and radio appearances for Union officers were secured over that period. During this time, DSU won praise from politicians, many within NUS and other Unions in the North-East for its uncharacteristically high-profile impact on the national debate on University funding.
DSU and the colleges
The University of Durham is a collegiate university and therefore the role of the central students' union is different from most other universities. Each of Durham's colleges has its own student representative body, known in most colleges as the Junior Common Room, which provides services and organises events within the college; while most decisions within the central Students' Union are made by JCR Senior DSU representatives. This gives DSU an avenue for encouraging involvement not available to Unions in most universities; but also limits participation, as many people choose to get involved with their JCR, which deals with many of the issues with immediate effects on their lives, instead of the central Union.DSU's future
The announcement in early 2005 that DSU has been operating with a large annual loss has prompted serious debate on the future of the organisation and the building in which it is currently based. According to Durham's student newspaper, Palatinate, DSU's debt to the bank and its parent institution stood at £303,000 in June 2005. Restructuring of the organisation followed and resulted in a small surplus being posted for the year 2005/06. In 2007/08 a reorganisation took place, which resulted in the adoption of a new constitution. Governance of the Union was also updated with the introduction of a Board of Trustees consisting of the four sabbatical officers, four elected students and four co-opted trustees.On a number of occasions, some have suggested have that DSU might disaffiliate from the NUS, however until last year none of those against affiliation have yet pushed the issue to a full student debate and vote. In 2009 however, a referendum took place proposing that the DSU should stay affiliated to the NUS. Students voted convincingly in favour of affiliation with 80% (2564) of students voting to stay affiliated and 20 % (624) voting to disaffiliate.
Recent controversy regarding a planned debate, "Multiculturalism in Britain", which was to involve representatives of the BNP
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
and which was subsequently cancelled over fears for student safety, has reopened the issue of NUS affiliation. A petition for a second referendum was put before the DSU and on 12 March 2010, the referendum concluded with a majority of voting students having voted to disaffiliate from the NUS. DSU will no longer be affiliated with the NUS after the end of the 2009-2010 academic year.
A third referendum on NUS affiliation was held in January 2011 with 60% of students voting to reaffiliate with NUS.
Notable former officers
A number of notable figures have been involved in DSU in the past. These include:- the late Mo MowlamMo MowlamMarjorie "Mo" Mowlam was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.Mowlam's time as Northern...
, former Deputy President (Education and Welfare) - Jeremy VineJeremy VineJeremy Guy Vine is a British author, journalist and news presenter for the BBC. He is known for his direct interview style and exclusive reporting from war-torn areas throughout Africa...
, former Editor of Palatinate - George AlagiahGeorge AlagiahGeorge Maxwell Alagiah OBE is a British newsreader, journalist and television news presenter.Since 3 December 2007, he has been the sole presenter of the BBC News at Six and has also been the main presenter of GMT on BBC World News since its launch on 1 February 2010...
, former Editor of Palatinate - Alex StandishAlex StandishAlex Standish is an intelligence analyst and military expert. He is current project manager for Security Sector Reform in the United Nations Development Programme in Kosovo. He was formerly editor of Strategic Intelligence Review, is a former BBC Panorama producer, a former foreign correspondent...
, former Deputy President (Education and Welfare) - Natalie Crisp