Warwick PPU protests against lack of representation at University Council
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Warwick campaigning group Protect the Public University (PPU) staged an Alternative Council Meeting aimed at voicing concerns over the democratic accountability of the current Warwick Council.
- 2 students
- 6 women
- no ethnic minorities
PPE members protested against the lack of diversity in the University Council. Of the Council’s 26 members, two were students (comprised of two Students’ Union officers), six were women and none were ethnic minorities.
Warwick Council’s responsibilities include appointing and setting the salary of the vice-chancellor; ratifying amendments to the Students’ Union Constitution and determining tuition fee amounts.
The meeting was held outside Senate House during the Warwick Council meeting on May 14. Security guards were stationed on either side of Senate House that day.
Protesters met to discuss Warwick Council’s lack of student representation, fair pay for staff and plans to improve teaching quality.
It was noted that though students made up more than 80 percent of the university body, they made up only seven percent of the Council body.
The key points on the agenda for the meeting were student engagement, the role of the Students’ Union in the council, and discussions on what an alternative management agenda might look like at the University.
One of the main issues identified were to do with how the council worked: how lay members were elected and how they were co-opted by the Council. Some PPU members thought that this led to the formation of an elite circle on the council. Proposals were made for term limited seats and a random selection of students on the council in order to counteract these issues.
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Stephen Barrell, a Philosophy PhD student and member of Warwick PPU, said: “At the moment we are seeing a massive assault on public institutions. We’re seeing an attempt to ideologically rebalance the way these institutions function in our society.
“We are a pivotal part of the University community, there’s no university without us.
“We just want something democratic. If we can push the Council to be representative of the University then maybe we can push for the Russell Group to do something positive in this country instead of something which seems short-sighted and all about chasing international league tables.”
Hannah Seaman, Warwick Anti-Sexism Society president and third-year Politics student, said: “The key change I would like to see is for there to be a greater representation of women, ethnic minorities and students on the council.
“It is good to have two people from the Students’ Union, however, they are not going to represent everyone. Also, they have not been students for a long time and are essentially paid employees.
“I think it is really important to have meetings that everyone can attend. I’m glad to see that there are always new people getting involved.”
The meeting was not the first time Warwick PPU protested against the University. In June 2013 the Boar reported the staged occupation of Senate House in protest against the ‘marketisation and privatisation’ of the University.
Warwick PPU is a non-hierarchical campaigning group committed to protection and preservation of university as a public body, and working against the commercialisation of education.
Comments (2)
@alexparkyparker:disqus – Arguing for increased student representation isn’t a negative effect.
That the university take it upon themselves to make any form of protest on campus near impossible is not PPU’s fault. It is them who call security guards, them who call the police, them who shut down senate house. They do this so that we, as students, forget that we have a common interest and focus instead on quibbling over small disruptions. All we did was have a quiet, sit down meeting on the grass outside. If you suffered “misery”, it was not our doing.
And we have never claimed to represent anyone. We are only ever ourselves.
What this article fails to mention is the negative reaction this group and protest are having on the students in the areas around them. As highlighted by the fact the Facebook event for this protest has had more negative commentary on than anything about the actual event. Every time they protest as the “representatives” of the student body they cause misery for all the students trying to do what a university is for and study around them.