SU Council meeting shut down prematurely

A Students’ Union (SU) Student Council meeting was closed prematurely on Monday 16 February after some members of the council were left upset due to a heated debate.

An online statement from the chair of SU Council published on Wednesday 18 explained:

“This is not a decision I took lightly, however, I am mandated in my role as chair to ensure a safe space in which to conduct meetings.

“As several violations of safe space were reported to me, I felt this could not be guaranteed and with advice from the Democracy Team I made said decision as I believed it was in the best interests of all parties.

“Immediately following this decision the meeting went in-quorate, meaning that the decision could not be overturned.

“I am saddened that such an event happened and I would like to stress that this is unprecedented and not representative of SU democracy.”

The Boar approached SU representatives for further information, however, they denied to explain further.

Alex Shaw, a second-year Politics and International Studies student, commented: “The SU needs to be accountable to the students, we should be told what is happening.”

It is understood that there was heated debate over the making of the SU’s ‘honourary members’ where one particularly upset member left the room.

There was also an argument over whether or not the Student Council was made up of mainly heterosexual male members.

The meeting later went in-quorate as members began to leave the room and the meeting had to be closed.

SU president Cat Turhan added to the statement later on: “Given the seriousness of the situation, we have decided that an enquiry with an independent Chair should examine what happened, establish the facts of the situation and make any recommendations necessary for the future successful running of Council and other such meetings.”