Student Council meeting reaffirms SU commitment to free education

The first Student Council (SC) meeting of Term 2 took place on Monday 20 January, and reaffirmed the Students’ Union’s (SU) commitment to free education.

The meeting’s key moment took place early on, with the SC, including SU president Ben Sundell and societies officer Ant Scott, restating an opposition to tuition fees.

The meeting was brought to a close early as a result of time constraints.

Several project fund bids were pitched to the council to be voted on for approval.

These included a request for £200 from BID x Warwick to create a ‘Before I Die’ Wall on Warwick campus, on which students will be able to write their personal aspirations in a public space.

Societies officer Ant Scott also proposed to award Warwick Vietnamese society £400, as opposed to their requested £100, for their Vietnamese Cultural Night which is to be held at the Albany Theatre in Coventry.

The SC went on to discuss amendments to the regulations of All Student Meetings, and lowering the costs of parking permits for undergraduate students.

There were significantly fewer moments of controversy than in the first SC meeting of Term 1, when support for staff strikes and the delay to the SU book sale were major subjects of discussion.

Mature student Richard Smith was appointed to the new SU position of lifelong learning officer as the only candidate, following a unanimous vote in favour of his appointment.

Pam Walker was also made an honorary life member of the SU, after 25 years of service as the societies co-ordinator.

The SU’s environment and ethics officer, Katie Bergstrom, commented: “It was really lovely to see Pam Walker made an honorary life member of the SU with almost unanimous support for the motion.

“It was unfortunate the SC was cut short due to a packed agenda, but it is always good to see a healthy debate concerning issues of student politics.”