EUSA liberation officers off the agenda, again

Campaigners within EUSA were met with disappointment last Tuesday evening as their long-held pledge to introduce liberation officers to represent several minorities within the university was discarded by the Student Representative Council (SRC).

The vote was heavily divided with 20 votes to 21 against – short of the two-thirds majority needed for the campaign to progress to the general meeting in a week’s time. There will be no chance of reintroducing the matter until the start of the next academic year.

EUSA external affairs convener Thomas Graham highlighted the seriousness of the recent decision: “This is a really disappointing outcome. Edinburgh is one of the only top rated universities in the UK left behind in adopting liberation officers. They are the only formal way to truly represent the needs and views of minority groups that may otherwise be ignored.”

The facts produced by those supporting the campaign for liberation make for interesting reading. There are 32 fewer women standing in student elections for EUSA than the norm, and Edinburgh has 25 per cent fewer mature students than the UK average.

Considering the wider picture, it takes women 20 per cent longer to pay off student loans; one in three disabled people feel unable to enter education because of their disability, and black graduates are four times more likely to be unemployed when they graduate.

The introduction of liberation officers in other student unions such as Manchester, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Strathclyde and the NUS itself has been credited with precipitating a big difference in the number of students belonging to minority groups getting involved in student life.

However, those opposed to the motion successfully argued against effectiveness of such a system, preferring instead the current governance of EUSA. One law student, Steven Alison, posted an amendment mocking the motion for liberation officers by suggesting there should also be official positions available for representatives of short and ginger people.

Thomas Graham responded: “There is plenty of evidence to suggest liberation campaigns are necessary to ensure discrimination of any kind is kept to a minimum.

“It came down to a dedicated core of people who were against the implementation of such groups who have made it impossible for the rest of the student body to have their say on this important issue.”

All other motions up for debate eventually passed. In particular, a successful motion mandating all elected NUS delegates means that the SRC can determine the way they must vote at future conferences, effectively denying delegates their own choice except where the mandate interferes with the manifesto upon which they had been elected. Supporters of the motion, including Mr Graham, have argued that Tuesday's vote represented merely the next step in making a current project official. However, those opposing have already labelled the move as undemocratic, and it remains unclear what success the motion will find when put to vote at the general meeting.

In another vote constitutional amendments were confirmed which pave the way to the to the introduction of online referendums to the general meeting. The motion proposes that that an online referendum system be set up to allow students a vote without having to attend the GM. This has so far garnered a great deal of support; it is hoped the measure will help involve more of the student body than ever in their union.

Finally, it was decided—under EUSA president Adam Ramsey’s casting vote—EUSA will pay £400 for a bus to take students to a Free Education demo in London.

All these motions—since they require amendments to the constitution—will now be carried forward to the general meeting, due to be held on Wednesday 18 February 2009. Other motions to be voted on at the GM include; lower prices for bookings at the centre for sport and exercise; lower fees for medical students; a 24-hour university library; birth dates on matriculation cards. A full list may be obtained from www.eusa.ed.ac.uk.