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UCL students expel the military from their campus

UCL anti-war activist | 06.03.2008 20:27 | Anti-militarism | Education | Terror War | London

University College London's students' union, UCL Union, voted to ban the officer training corps, territorial army and all other military recruiters from its premises and events, in what was its best attended general meeting in years, denying the military access to new recruits.

University College London Union bans military recruiters from its premises and
events.

LONDON, ENGLAND - March 5 - University College London's students' union voted to pass a motion in its Annual General Meeting to ban the Officer Training Corps, University Royal Navy Units, University of London Air Squadron and all other
military organisations from the union's fresher's events and other union
sponsored events, Union premises, and student run media.

Military recruiters had previously been given access to UCL Union's "freshers'
fayre" and are allowed by nearly all other British universities. Approximately
fifty percent of British military officers are recruited through university
based military organisations so denying them access to campus is an important
part of a counter-recruitment strategy for the anti-war movement.

The motion passed states "This Union believes 'That because the British military
under the Labour Government is currently engaged in an aggressive war overseas,
for the Union to use its resources to encourage students to join the military
or participate in military recruitment activities at this time would give
political and material support to the war.'"

The Annual General Meeting had the largest attendance in UCL's recent history
with more than 325 people in attendance at the start of the meeting, making it
the first UCL Union General Meeting to make the Union's 1% quorum since 2003.

Other motions passed include twinning with two Palestinian universities, voting
against the NUS governance review, and against UCL administration's support for
lifting the cap on top up fees.

UCL anti-war activist
- Homepage: http://uclu.org

Comments

Hide the following 6 comments

ashamed

07.03.2008 01:02

as much as I agree with you sentiment I'm pretty sure that we should not be stopping people coming onto campus. Demonstrate against them, persuade people not to visit them but if you stop them from being there you aren't much better than they are. It is a tactic the BNP would love.....

EX UCL


Re: EX UCL

07.03.2008 10:21

Look you fool, can't you see that by not giving them a platform to spout their macho propaganda they will have a smaller pool of recruits?

And what will a smaller pool of recruits result in? You tell me.

I don't see the point in fetishising free speech, should the BNP be invited to a local village fete to prove our committment to it? F*ck that, no platform I say. We live in a society where free speech is an illusion, those with the most money and power, i.e. corporations, governments and the corporate media have a strangle hold on communications, yet you expect everyone else to play by the 'rules', they certainly don't!

It is *not* a level playing field so we have to use tactics that work, not prescribe an idealistic fallacy that never was.

Mike D


A SU acting with a conscience for once.

08.03.2008 12:22

This isn't an attack on freedom of speech. It is a Student Union withdrawing the use of it's facilities from an outside organisation, in this case a military engaged in blooy and illegal wars. It's no more an attack on freedom of speech than it would be to deny oil companies advertising space in a wildlife magazine on environmental grounds. You need to be trying to express an opinion to qualify under freedom of speech. Recruitment is just unopinionated advertisement. And even if the military was expressing an opinion it would only carry any weight in this case if UCL students were supporting it. That is why it's a STUDENTS Union. I don't see why any outside body should expect a SU to unconditionally give it use of union facilities to use as a stand for their propaganda.

I think it's good to see a SU acting democratically and for the good of it's students, as well as people everywhere. It doesn't happen enough from my experience.

@ at RHUL


The AGM was a farce.

09.03.2008 19:16

The AGM was a farce. It was poorly chaired, and as a result the majority of students had left before the motion to expel army recruitment was passed. Those who had left the lecture theatre and abandoned their voting cards were still counted as present. The decision was therefore undemocratic and probably does not reflect the views of the majority of students. Indeed, a facebook group registering displeasure at the decision attracted 500 students in less than a day. A petition to contest the decision and hold a referendum on the subject, which would require 10% of students to be in favour of the expulsion of the Army from campus, is currently being organised. Hopefully such a referendum will go ahead, meaning that any decision passed on the matter would be fair and democratic.

Current UCL


Response from another UCL Alumni

12.03.2008 02:46

> Look you fool, can't you see that by not giving them a platform to spout their macho
> propaganda they will have a smaller pool of recruits?

The groups targeted (OTC,UAS,RN unit) are NOT recruiters, they're not getting people to sign up for 10 yrs service - essentially it's about finding out what military life is really like. Some, after spending time with the military, decide it's for them, others like me (ex UAS) decided afterwards it wasn't quite right, but had a lot of fun along the way and developed leadership and personal skills (No you don't spend your time learning how to kill people and developing bloodlust).

It's appaling that some people believe that UCL students are incapable of speaking to Stop the War at freshers fair, then speaking to the OTC at freshers fair and coming to their own conclusions - the implication that those deciding this "know best" and try to make decisions for the rest of the student population regarding possible future careers is appalling.

Re : RE :EX-UCL


Coverage by The Cheese Grater Magazine

12.03.2008 13:14


The press don't seem to be covering the fact that the AGM's chair didn't follow the standing orders properly and that she is now beign investigated.

UCL Union's The Cheese Grater Magazine is the only paper with full coverage:

 http://www.cheesegratermagazine.org/AGMissue.pdf

Alex Ashman


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