Freshers Week and Integration voted in

Students voted more than ever before in last week’s referendum, with both motions carried by an overwhelming margin. Freshers’ week passed by an 82 per cent majority, and International Integration passed by 80 per cent.

Last year’s spring referendum on No Platform policy, Fair trade products, and Union democracy saw a 700 per cent increase on previous voting figures. The Union has managed to build on that achievement with a further 50.9 per cent increase on last year’s totals, making it the highest turn-out on record. The previous record was set by the 2006 referendum on the smoking ban.

The Union pins this dramatic increase in votes on their ‘Get Involved’ publicity campaign, and the fact the issues are particularly relevant to students.

The Students’ Union President, Stuart Thomson, said, “I am delighted by the record turnout for this Referendum. This proves that students will engage in the democratic process providing it is relevant and representative.”

He continued, “Over the next few weeks I am meeting with facultyweeks I am meeting with faculty heads, the International Office and senior University officials to ensure that real actions are taken as a result of this vote.“

Andy Glyde, the Governance and Finance Officer, said the result was “absolutely fantastic” and described it as a victory for Union democracy, “Time after time we hear that Union democracy is dead and that students simply do not care about politics. This result has completely disproved that. We need to build on this and work hard to engage with more students further.”

3177 students voted on the Freshers’ Week motion, with 2620 votes for, 481 votes against and 76 abstentions. 3099 students voted on the International Integration motion, with 2396 votes for, 396 votes against and 217 abstentions.

Warwick University is one of the only universities in the United Kingdom that does not have a Freshers week free of academic commitments. The results of the referendum give the Union clear backing to put pressure on the university to provide an induction period into university life.

International Integration emerged as an important issue last year under former SU President Joe Kirby. With his guidance, the Union published a report “Internationalising the Student Experience”, which noted the separation of international and home students. It advised the incorporation of Orientation Week into Freshers week to help with integration.

One of the new proposed measures is a buddy scheme where each international student will be paired with a home student to help them adjust to both campus and UK life.

However, despite the overwhelmingly student support for both Freshers week and International integration, there will be no sudden changes. The Union will be putting pressure on the University, but even if they are successful, Freshers Week will not feature at Warwick University until 2010.