Oxford University Student Union
Encyclopedia
OUSU sabbatical officers 2011/12 |
|||
| President | Martha Mackenzie | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Vice-President (Access & Academic Affairs) | Hannah Cusworth | ||
| Vice-President (Charities & Community) | Dan Stone | ||
| Vice-President (Graduates) | Jim O'Connell | ||
| Vice-President (Welfare & Equal Opportunities) | Seb Baird | ||
| Vice-President (Women) | Yuan Yang | ||
The Oxford University Student Union is the official students' union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. It is better known in Oxford by its acronym, OUSU (icon ). It exists to represent Oxford University students in the University's decision-making, to act as the voice for students in the national higher education policy debate, and to provide direct services to the student body. It is not to be confused with the Oxford Union
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
debating society, which, although similarly named, is separate private club with no representative functions.
History
The University of Oxford's nascent students' union emerged in the 13th century. Student leaders attempted to mediate the violent clashes between "nations" at the University. Southern English, northern English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish students would frequently battle against one another, with deaths recorded as early as 1260.Despite this ancient pedigree, the University of Oxford's governing council resisted formally recognising Oxford's university-wide student estate for some 750 years,although JCRs and MCRs came to be recognised in their respective colleges during the 19th century.
In 1961, the University Proctor
Proctor
Proctor, a variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam or dormitory.The title is used in England in three principal senses:...
s banned the student magazine Isis
Isis magazine
The Isis Magazine was established at Oxford University in 1892 . Traditionally a rival to the student newspaper Cherwell, it was finally acquired by the latter's publishing house, OSPL, in the late 1990s...
from publishing reviews of lectures. Students resisted, and legally incorporated the Oxford University Student Representative Council (OUSRC) for the first time. They then agitated for formal university recognition of the OUSRC, and petitioned the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
, asking the government to amend the Oxford and Cambridge Universities Act. Rather than risk having its hand forced by legislation, the University relented, and formally recognised the OUSRC in 1970.
The OUSRC adopted its contemporary constitution in 1974, changing its name to the Oxford University Student Union.
Membership
Reflecting the collegiate nature of the University of Oxford itself, OUSU is both an association of Oxford's more than 20,000 individual students and a federation of the affiliated Junior Common Rooms (JCRs), Middle Common Rooms (MCRs) and other Constituent Organisations that represent all undergraduate and graduate students at the University's forty-four colleges and Permanent Private HallPermanent Private Hall
A Permanent Private Hall at the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university. There are six Permanent Private Halls at Oxford, five of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denominations....
s.
Individual students can opt out of membership, although this right is rarely exercised. Individual Common Rooms can also disaffiliate, and disaffiliation debates and votes are perennial fixtures of some Common Rooms.
Finances
OUSU is financed by a block grant from the University and the activities of the commercial subsidiary Oxford Student Services Limited (OSSL).OSSL has its own Managing Director and Board of Directors, and the corporation's profits are all remanded to OUSU. OSSL's primary activities are: Freshers' Fair, the three-day introduction in Oxford's Examination Schools
Examination Schools
The Examination Schools of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford, England.The building was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson , who also designed the cricket pavilion in the University Parks...
to clubs and societies, held during Freshers' week
Student orientation
Student orientation or new student orientation, is a period of time at the beginning of the academic year at a university or other tertiary institution during which a variety of events are held to orient and welcome new students. The name of the period varies by country...
; publishing, primarily of handbooks for and by students, but also of The Oxford Forum
The Oxford Forum
The Oxford Forum is a termly student magazine distributed to members of Oxford University, and available to others free of charge on request. First released in 2005, the magazine is produced and published independently by Oxford students.-Contributors:...
magazine, The Oxford Student
The Oxford Student
The Oxford Student is a newspaper produced by and for students of the University of Oxford; it is sometimes abbreviated to The OxStu. The paper was established in 1992 by the Oxford University Student Union...
newspaper and Oxide Radio
Oxide Radio
Oxide Radio is a student radio station run by members of Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England. It was established in 2001 and as Altered Radio made brief forays onto FM in 2004 and 2005 before complications regarding FM licensing and funding forced it onto...
, a student radio station.
Governance
OUSU is led by a 22-member Executive Committee, which includes six full-time salaried sabbatical officers, who generally serve in the year following completion of their Finals, although this is not a requirement, and 16 part-time Executive Officers, who serve while continuing their studies. Included in these totals, there is one sabbatical and three part-time executive positions which must be occupied by graduates.OUSU Council acts as the sovereign body of the Student Union, and has over 150 eligible members, specifically: every OUSU Executive Officer; three representatives from each affiliated JCR; two representatives from each affiliated MCR; and one vote representing each of the six OUSU Autonomous Campaigns. If a JCR or MCR has fewer than 100 members, it receives one fewer Council vote. The Chair of Council is elected by the Council itself in each academic term.
Protests and occupations
Shortly before the formation of OUSU in 1974, agitation commenced within certain sections of the student body for a Central Students Union building by the Student Representative Council, forerunner of OUSU. The University feared that the existence of such facilities would be used for the promotion of student activism. In 1972, during the miners strike, students had offered their rooms to miners picketing Didcot Power Station and had supported staff who went on strike at St Anne's CollegeSt Anne's College
St Anne's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Formerly a women's college, it has been coeducational since 1979 and now prides itself on being "a modern, forward-looking, intellectually ambitious college"...
.
On 5 November 1973, an open meeting called for direct action against the University on the issue of a Central Students Union building. Later that day 350 students marched to the Examination Schools
Examination Schools
The Examination Schools of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford, England.The building was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson , who also designed the cricket pavilion in the University Parks...
and commenced a sit in, which lasted seven days. The University Registrar, Geoffrey Caston, sent an open letter to all Junior Members threatening proceedings in the High Court and disciplinary action against those who could be identified. The occupation was ended by students themselves after the University obtained a writ of possession.
OUSU was recognised by the University in early January 1974, and a meeting was held on 29 January with the Vice Chancellor and others. The Vice Chancellor, John Habakkuk
John Habakkuk
Sir John Habakkuk was a British economic historian.-Biography:Habakkuk was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, the son of Evan and Anne Habakkuk. He was named "Hrothgar" after Hroðgar in Beowulf, which his father was reading at the time of his birth...
, made it clear that the University was facing deep cuts and there was no money for a CSU project. OUSU asked for a general statement that the University was not opposed in principle to central student facilities. The University refused on the grounds that Congregation was not favourably disposed to making general statements of intent.
The University was expecting a second occupation and contingency plans were drawn up. The Bursar of St Johns College wrote to the President of the Junior Common Room on 11 February noting, 'all the talk that is going on at the present time about occupation'. , and stating that in future the Bursary would be kept locked. It was reported that over £9,000 worth of damage had ben done to the Examination Schools during the occupation the previous November. On 7 February An Extraordinary OUSU Council Meeting was held. Sue Lukes, David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch is a British author, broadcaster, and journalist. He is a regular columnist for The Times, and author of Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country and Voodoo Histories: the role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History...
and others attempted to defeat a motion stating that it was the position of OUSU not to support any occupation of University premises in furtherance of the CSU campaign. When this motion was put, Lukes and Aaronovitch resigned, the former making a speech condemning Council in its entirety. "Pushing and shoving' began, with Mike Sullivan pointing out to Lukes that there was such a thing as left wing fascism. The meeting broke up in a shambles.
The following day, an anonymous flyer was circulated, headed 'Remember the 5th of November', it gave warning to the University that 'You have had three months and your time is up. Negotiations have failed, talking has failed, OUSU has failed. Come to the Open Meeting on Monday night in the Union Hall. And don't forget your sleeping bag!'
At 9.15am on Wednesday 13 February approximately 50 or 60 students entered the Indian Institute
Indian Institute
The Indian Institute in central Oxford, England is located at the north end of Catte Street on the corner with Holywell Street and facing down Broad Street from the east...
building in Catte Street shouting that they were occupying it and demanding that the people working there should leave. The 22 staff inside stayed at their desks while the students milled around after first closing the doors. What happened next was the subject of bitter dispute. The University claimed that at around 11.30am, about 50 volunteers, 'relatively elderly gentlemen' working in the Clarendon Building
Clarendon Building
The Clarendon Building is a landmark Grade I listed building in Oxford, England, owned by the University of Oxford. It was built between 1711 and 1715 to house the Oxford University Press. It stands in the centre of the city in Broad Street, near the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre...
decided out of concern for their colleagues to enter the building. A secretary let them in through a rear window, and once inside they confronted the intruders, who having made a show of resisting, left in groups through the front door. The spokesman for the University insisted there was no violence, although it was conceded that there was some scrummaging and, 'ears may have been twisted'.
Those supporting the occupiers claimed that the University had set the Oxford University Police
Oxford University Police
The Oxford University Police, or Oxford University Constables , was the private police force of the University of Oxford between 1829 and 2003. They carried warrant cards and were empowered to act as police officers within the University precincts and within areas of Oxford within four miles of any...
upon them who, goaded on by the Proctors, perpetrated acts of violence against the students, and encouraged the police, who were outside, to wade in also. The supporters of the occupiers asserted it was a 'pre-planned and ugly piece of violence'. It was alleged that at least one of the 'relatively elderly gentlemen' was in fact a serving police officer out of uniform, who was identified at a subsequent demonstration.
The University identified those it believed to have been the ringleaders and moved swiftly against them. Eighteen students were charged with an offence under the University Statutes and were required to attend at the Proctor's Office in cap and gown on 21 February under threat of being rusticated
Rustication (academia)
Rustication is a term used at Oxbridge to mean being sent down or expelled temporarily. The term derives from the Latin word rus, countryside, to indicate that a student has been sent back to their family in the country, or from medieval Latin rustici, meaning "heathens or barbarians"...
if they did not appear. The eighteen included Sue Lukes and another student from Somerville College, three from Magdalen and two each from Pembroke, St Johns and Balliol They were committed for trial at a Disciplinary Court on 11 March, during the Easter vacation. The chairman of the Court was Barry Nicholas, a Professor of Comparative Law. All who attended agreed that the trial was a travesty of justice. Mike Sullivan wrote an open letter describing how the Court decided every procedural point against the defendants; several were expelled for making objections, including Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
who was acting as a McKenzie friend
McKenzie Friend
A McKenzie friend assists a litigant in person in a common law court. This person does not need to be legally qualified. The crucial point is that litigants in person are entitled to have assistance, lay or professional, unless there are exceptional circumstances.Their role was set out most...
to some of the defendants. Gordon Day, President of St John's Junior Common Room reported that even Andrew Turek, an ex President of the University Monday Club and a virulent supporter of disciplinary action being taken against those who occupied University buildings, described the proceedings as a 'farce' and labelled the University Marshall, Mr Skinner, as 'a maniac who should not be allowed on University property'.
On the testimony, mainly, of a University Police Officer, Philip Berry, all of the defendants were convicted of being present at the occupation. It was admitted in Court that the Proctors were present together with other 'employees' of the University and an 'independent contractor' with two of his men. It was conceded that the 'occupation' amounted to nothing more than possession of the stairs and corridors and no violence was at any time offered to University staff. Nevertheless, the eighteen defendants were all sent down with the sentence suspended for one year. A subsequent appeal by thirteen of the defendants failed.
The CSU campaign continued with declining support through the latter half of the 1970s. Direct action was mooted by those leading the campaign, but there was never any serious propect of another occupation.
Protests and Occupations 1990s to Date
Several student groups participated in protests against the introduction of tuition fees from 1998 onwards, with Oxford students playing a major role in the nationwide Campaign for Free EducationCampaign for Free Education
The Campaign for Free Education was a left-wing grouping in the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom of those opposed to tuition fees and the abolition of student grants....
. Activities included non-payment campaigns, the occupation of Exam Schools in 1998 and of the Development Office in November 1999, several marches and a short-lived blockade of the University Offices. OUSU support for these protests was limited in 1998, but became more formal during the presidency of Anneliese Dodds (1999). Following another occupation of Exam Schools in January 2004, the university pursued disciplinary action against five OUSU sabbatical officers.
In 2001 and 2007, OUSU led protests against speakers at the Oxford Union. In 2001, Kirsty McNeill led a successful protest to stop the visit of Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
David Irving
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
to the debating society. In 2007, the Oxford Union attracted condemnation again for inviting Irving and BNP leader Nick Griffin to speak at a "free speech forum". The then OUSU President, Martin McCluskey, led a campaign against the visits which attracted attention and support from national anti-fascist organisations, politicians and media commentators.
Former Presidents
| Year | President |
|---|---|
| 2010–11 | David Barclay |
| 2009–10 | Stefan Baskerville |
| 2008–09 | Lewis Iwu |
| 2007–08 | Martin McCluskey |
| 2006–07 | Alan Strickland |
| 2005–06 | Emma Norris |
| 2004–05 | John Blake |
| 2003–04 | Helena Puig Larrauri |
| 2002–03 | Will Straw |
| 2001–02 | Ruth Hunt Stonewall (UK) Stonewall is a lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity in the United Kingdom named after the Stonewall Inn of Stonewall riots fame. Now the largest gay equality organization not only in the UK but in Europe, it was formed in 1989 by political activists and others lobbying against section 28 of the... |
| 2000–01 | Kirsty McNeill |
| 1999–2000 | Anneliese Dodds |
| 1998–1999 | Katherine Rainwood/ Mark Strathdene/ Josh Bell |
- 1971 – Emily Wallace was elected OUSRC president, the first president of Oxford students to be officially recognised by the University.
- 1973 – Michael Sullivan became the first sabbatical president of Oxford students and the first president of the renamed Oxford University Student Union.
- 1982 – John Grogan became the first president to succeed in obtaining a seat for students at the University's governing council, in June 1983. He and two other students chosen by OUSU became observers for most of the council's agenda, and this practice was enshrined in the University's Statutes, Decrees, and Regulations.
- 1993 – Akaash Maharaj became the first ever visible ethnic minority president and also the first president from overseas (Canada). He helped lead a successful national campaign that thwarted a 1994 government bill to restrict the ability of students' unions to comment on public policy issues and that contributed to the ultimate dismissal from Cabinet of the then Secretary of State for Education, John PattenJohn Patten, Baron PattenJohn Haggitt Charles Patten, Baron Patten, PC is a former Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons...
.
- 1998 – Katherine Rainwood became the only known president to resign from office, leaving only days into her term of office after having been found by the University Proctors to have used "unfair means" during her Finals.
- 2003 – Will Straw carried out protests against the government's introduction of tuition fees for students, despite his father Jack StrawJack Straw (politician)John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...
being a senior member of the government of the day. Before coming up to Oxford, Will Straw had made headlines for receiving a formal police caution for drug-dealing.
- 2011 David Barclay leads the campaign of no confidence against the Higher Education Minister David Willets, making Oxford the first University to do so. Also successfully lobbied for a lower tuition fee for students from household incomes under £21,000.