It seems that on a daily basis I am told that students at LSBU have no interest in politics, are not interested in getting active or are simply an apathetic group, and that trying to engage them on an activist level isn’t going to work. And this is something I still refuse to believe.
Two weeks ago, 70 students turned up to a Stop the War meeting entitled ‘Palestine, Israel and the conflict in Gaza’, with speeches from Lindsey German, Simon Hughes MP, and the Palestinian Ambassador, Prof. Manuel Hassassian. This is the most successful political meeting I have organised since I started studying here, and promises to create a movement that will see many more.
So where does this assumption of LSBU student apathy come from? I feel that it is easier to blame the students for their lack of involvement, than to actually challenge the real issues faced by the Union and the Institution.
The biggest problem I have seen since I started my role as Vice President nearly 7 months ago is Student Engagement. This is not an issue with students not getting involved, but rather the Union not reaching the students it is meant to serve. Students need to be informed of what is going on and when it is happening, but more importantly, why. The politics and decisions of the Union affect all it’s members, so these members need to realise it is important for them to get involved.
This is not simply a case of putting up more posters, or sending out mass emails. Neither is it a case of producing flyers and leaving them on tables in and around the bar and reception. It is about taking the time to talk to the wider population on all campuses, and to make them central to the decision making process. Without personal interaction, how do we expect our members to feel involved?
In many Universities across the country, this is best achieved through a General Meeting, but at the last AGM held in the Union, no members turned up. Why is this? It would be very easy to simply blame publicity surrounding the event, but this just misses the bigger picture completely.
A lot of focus seems to be on meeting quorate for the AGM, with little or no mention of Union General Meetings. The facilities and procedures are there, so is this a sign that Union Officers lack the knowledge required to organise these meetings, or is it an indication of a lack of engagement and accountability of Officers?
This question runs alongside the irregular and ill-attended Executive and Council meetings. From a year that started out with the best of intentions, with ideas and discussions of weekly meetings, we now face a situation in which elected representatives turn up late, ill prepared or simply not at all.
With Council spending a large portion of their time trying to find out where people are, and why individuals have not turned up to work at all, it’s little wonder that very little seems to get done. Even more worryingly, failures to meet and discuss important courses of action result in a Union that seems unable to move forward in any positive direction.
Looking at the situation from a historical perspective, the Union has taken many positive steps forwards. Serious financial losses have been turned into a system that sees finance under control, and we now have a much better perception from the point of view of the University management. We also have a very successful and well perceived Student Advice Bureau, that has proved time and again to be of ultimate benefit to students.
It seems to many, that the nature of Sabbatical Officers has changed over the last half decade. Officer’s priorities have seemed to shift towards a focus on personal agendas, unfortunately at the expense of wider student engagement. If Officers have only personal gain in mind, active and constructive participation in Union matters, including reporting on their own portfolio, is questionable.
London South Bank Students’ Union has a long history of political activism, dating back to the days of LSBU being a Polytechnic. Pictures still hang proudly on the walls near the offices above the bar, when students led marches in the early 1990’s against the poll tax and privatisations of the era. The time has come to revert back to these moments, and to forget the excuses of student apathy.
We have a unique opportunity to mobilise a strong and effective political presence, and to become part of the wider national student movement. With a student body as diverse as ours, it is imperative that we begin to challenge national politics and Government policies that affect the lives of our members, and this needs to be student led.
There seems to be a traditional view held by some at LSBUSU that sabbatical officers should lead students towards what is in their personal self-interests, and this often comes at the price of ignoring the students themselves. Sabbatical officers are there to support and guide students, but the most crucial aspect of the job is to create and maintain a democratic, student led structure for the members to become involved in.
It is not all negatives at the Union however, and this year has seen some fantastic advances. The ‘Ents Committee’ has come a long way, and is starting to become well-organised and successful in organising events. And the new Internet Café and food counter in The Rigg bar both promise to be hugely successful, and should keep commercial services running at its very best. So now is the time to start on student engagement.
The upcoming weeks and months are going to see fantastic opportunities for the members of LSBU Students’ Union to get actively involved in the very decision making processes that I have mentioned in this article. The task now is to make sure that this continues long into the future, and with a new Union building, I hope to see a refreshed, active and engaged student body.
