Wednesday 10-04-2019 - 13:02

The National Union of Students (NUS) represents students all across the country. At NUS National Conference, delegates from Students' Unions throughout Britain debate the direction of the NUS and elect the Officers who will lead the NUS next year. With NUS' finances currently struggling, Conference will decide the future of the organisation, making this year's Conference even more important than ever.

 

Media Observer, Anna Tatham, reports back on day one of Conference.

 

The first day of the NUS Conference started on a solemn but important note. A minute’s silence was held to commemorate the victims of the Pittsburg and Christchurch attacks. The huge Armadillo-shaped SEC Arena fell silent.

 

Conference was warmly welcomed by the Scottish hosts: first by the President of NUS Scotland, Liam McCabe, who stressed the need to “strengthen our movement as a whole”. He said the NUS is “in the heritage of this city… in the bones of this place”. Bailie Philip Braat, Deputy Lord Provost of the City of Glasgow provided the Civic Welcome, and embraced all Conference attendees “honorary Glaswegians”.

 

A Solitary Address from the President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), Sonia Cahill, provided a bold outlook on the future of the NUS. "We must act”, she proclaimed, and went on to dub Brexit “perhaps the worst thought-out disaffiliation in history”.

 

NUS President Shakira Martin then enigmatically concluded the opening, and frankly acknowledged the NUS was currently in difficulty, but was emphatic about saving the NUS, for “the students who need us”.

 

Then came the opening of business.

 

Conference was formatted slightly differently this year to allow for the four hours of debate needed to discuss NUS reform. Therefore, some speech times had been reduced to three-minutes rather than five.

 

The first motion to allow for a speech for and against the Order Paper resoundingly failed.

 

The first motion to pass was Motion 402 Institutionalised Islamophobia, which resolved to introduce training on islamophobia and implicit bias into NUS Lead and Change programs to be directed by

Muslims FTOs, NEC Members & FOSIS.

 

Then, the Emergency Motion on Antisemitism also passed.

 

Newman College Student Union (Brighton) next became a member of the NUS thanks to a following motion.

 

The Zone Reports came next, and each were passed respectively. This included Priority Campaign, Further Education, Higher Education, Society and Citizenship and Welfare. The Union Development Zone Report featured an apology from Vice-President (Union Development) over the Totum marketing strategy.

 

Next up came the elections. The six candidates running for President were Bilal Bin Saqib, Justine Canady, Meike Imberg, Momin Saqib, Nelly Kibirige and Zamzam Ibrahim.

 

Successful candidates for all positions were:

 

NUS National President – Zamzam Ibrahim

NUS Vice-President Further Education – Juliana Mohammed Noor

NUS Vice-President Higher Education – Claire Smith

NUS Vice-President Welfare – Eva Crossan Jory

NUS Vice-President Union Development – Erica Ramo

 

Today, NUS Reform is being debated for four hours. With the future of the National Union of Students at stake, it’s not going to be one to miss.