Students from a number of universities have launched a
campaign to disaffiliate their student unions from the NUS, after a controversial
conference. According to reports, the
universities of Oxford, Cambridge, KCL, LSE, Aberystwyth, York, Durham,
Edinburgh, Sheffield, South Bank, Westminster, Bristol, Exeter and Birmingham
are all looking to hold referenda on whether to remain part of the NUS.
The NUS annual conference, which took place in Birmingham
this week, caused controversy when Malia Bouattia was elected president. She has been accused of anti-Semitism after
revelations that she previously described the University of Birmingham as ‘a Zionist
outpost’.
She was also part of a majority of delegates who previously
rejected a motion condemning ISIS, although the NUS said this was because she
disputed the wording not the principle.
An NUS delegate from the University of Oxford told the BBC:
"Obviously her election enshrines the fact that NUS no
longer represents all students, but there are other grievances we have with the
rest of the organisation, there are other reasons we think that the organisation
is no longer reformable. It's the
mixture of those reasons why we're campaigning to leave."
The conference rejected a motion put forward by the
University of York to give a vote to every student. Instead, only Student Union delegates will be
able to vote – as has been the system since 1922.
Do you want your uni/college to disaffiliate from the NUS, or stay with it? (Please Vote and RT!)— Student Voices (@StudentVoicesUK) April 24, 2016
By our News Team
Students threaten disaffiliation with NUS | NEWS
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