Opinion: Union’s chaotic AGM shows that student politics needs to change drastically

· by Fraser Moore · in

University students have never been less interested in politics. Even less so student politics.

In terms of General Elections, only 51 percent of people aged 18-24 came out to vote in 2010 – much lower than the overall average turnout of 65 percent. Sadly, this figure is set to be even lower in next year’s General Election. I believe that one of the reasons that young people are becoming more and more disenfranchised with national politics is the poor state of student politics – frankly, not enough university students care.

The lack of involvement in student politics is allowing Students’ Unions (SUs) to get away with dodgy antics. This can be exemplified by the “farcical” Annual General Meeting (AGM) hosted by City University London, my university, last night. Although hailed a “success” by senior SU officials, many critics of the proceedings have brought attention to numerous failings of the AGM. Even before the meeting started, the hallmarks of student disinterest in politics were clear – last year’s AGM was called off because not a single student showed up.

At City, one student appeared eager to get involved. “As a student, I would say I’m interested in student politics, though I may not be up-to-date [on policies].”

However, when asked if she would go to the AGM – held at six o’clock on a Friday evening – her answer was no. “I don’t think I would’ve gone just because I don’t live on campus, I live in Essex.”

The organisation at this year’s was shocking. A late start meant that the agenda was rushed. The first Soviet-style infringement of democracy was when students were forced to vote on a trustee report (required by law) that they had not seen in its entirety. It was not printed off earlier that day, meaning students were given scant time to read and digest the proposals that were there – around 15-20 minutes.

A telling sign of the unfairness and lack of political action among students was the turnout. For a university of 21,000 students, at most 150 were in attendance. Of these 150, the stream out of the room became heavier and heavier as motions were passed or disapproved that they were interested in. By the time the “travesty of democracy” reached its height, the lecture theatre looked rather sparsely populated.

The pinnacle that I speak of was the striking down of a motion that would offer full editorial independence to City’s student media teams. City has been infamous for censoring SU’s output, as everything that is published must go through the SU top brass for “legal reasons”. However, this often means that feedback is slow, and student media teams are restricted from addressing certain topics. When the votes for this motion were taken, it was ambiguous what the final outcome was. The voting system was hardly accurate – students were given red, green and white papers for a yes, no, and an abstain vote respectively. A recount was demanded, but the so-called “independent” adjudicator would have none of it. He declared the motion disapproved, and allowed people to rush out of the room, leaving some students in disbelief and outrage.

Despite the flawed democratic process, some good did come out of the AGM. A motion was passed to look at re-instating Friday prayers, an undeniable victory for the large Muslim community at City. The University’s timetabling system was called to be reviewed after a motion was passed – societies may now be able to book rooms before six o’clock.

These few motions aside, many others were shot down, and the organisation of the event was shocking. The small group that showed up were purely there because of their strong involvement in student politics. Other less politically involved students were not present. “I didn’t actually know [the AGM was happening]”, one student told me.

Politics is important for students. Students’ Unions exist so speak on behalf of the students, and to protect the students’ rights. They are meant to be able to hold universities to account. But it seems increasingly that the SU is becoming an arm of the university – especially at City. How can we hold the university to account if students have a stifled voice?

It’s important that we bring politics to the students, instead of having it in the corner, expecting students to approach it and then appearing dumbfounded when turnout to AGMs is low. It was clear that democracy was not respected at this AGM, and Students’ Unions need to take a long look at themselves and assess how transparent and fair they really are.