ASM: students to vote on SU support for Thrift

The University’s Students’ Union (SU) will hold an All Student Meeting (ASM) on Monday 2 February in the SU Atrium.

The meeting, taking place at 5.30pm, will give students the chance to discuss four motions which have been submitted by the student body for consideration.

These motions include a vote of no confidence in Nigel Thrift; a campaign for the main library to be open 24 hours a day; a vote for a Security Code of Conduct to be introduced and a campaign for the university to cease its contract with a water provider.

In light of the recent controversy regarding Nigel Thrift, a vote as to whether the SU will continue to have confidence in his presidency will be discussed. This campaign takes into consideration Thrift’s pay rise (which exceeded that of university staff, who have faced real term cuts), and arguments to rescind his knighthood.

Also, following last month’s student protests regarding brutality and violence at the student sit-in, a motion campaigning for a code of conduct to be created for the University’s security service will be considered.

Furthermore, a campaign for the University to extend the library’s opening times to 24 hours a day will be discussed, as will a motion entitled ‘Water Without Politics.’ This will be a vote on whether the university should cease its contract with water provider Eden Springs as a boycott of a business deemed to be operating in Israeli-occupied territories.

Times for the motions are as follows: 5.45pm – 24 hour library; 6.05pm – Security Code of Conduct; 6.25pm – ‘Water Without Politics’; 6.55pm – vote of no confidence in Nigel Thrift.

A hashtag for the event has been created – #WarwickASM – which can be used on social media to voice student opinion about the topics discussed.

Chair of the Council and fourth-year PPE student Oliver Rice said of the event: “The ASM really is at the heart of democracy in the SU and it gives the whole 20,000 plus student body that one opportunity to have their say not only on the policy, but in shaping the opinions and decisions of everyone around them.

“The policies coming to discussion at this ASM don’t simply affect students or even the wider university, they are motions that can affect, for better or worse, the wider community and give this SU a firm stance on current international issues.”