By Zara Afzal, Union Assembly Deputy Chair
On the 3rd of November the first Union Assembly meeting of the year was held, here are the key things that happened.
Full-Time Officer Report
The officers provided updates on their ongoing campaigns and priorities. Some key developments were the launch of walking buses, the work on student cost-of-living and safety concerns, the opening of the Sports Access Fund, and the ongoing car parking campaign, which currently has over 300 responses. The Education Officer also noted the success of the Academic Rep Conference and highlighted the continued work on Turnitin AI use.
NUS Affiliation Referendum
The Motion:
The President presented background information on the NUS affiliation, explaining the costs and benefits of remaining affiliated with the NUS. Some of these benefits included the campaigns for students’ financial relief and loans, the strong safeguarding policies and the fact the NUS has previously led national campaigns on behalf of marginalised students. Reasons to disaffiliate were also presented, some of which were the increasing affiliation fees and the lack of action taken regarding Gaza.
The Outcome:
There was discussion about whether the benefits justified the expensive affiliation fee. Students also questioned the NUS’s engagement with Lancaster, alternative uses of the affiliation fee, and how the wider student population would be accurately informed about a referendum campaign.
A vote was held proposing a referendum on NUS UK affiliation. The motion was not passed, with 12 votes in favour, 15 against, and 2 abstentions. Therefore, LUSU will not hold a referendum on affiliation to NUS.
Confession Pages
The Motion:
The President presented a motion to establish a formal LUSU stance on the anonymous confession pages. Some background information was shown explaining the recent history of confession pages at Lancaster regarding individuals and marginalised communities. Concerns about how the content from these pages conflicted with LUSU’s existing policies and Code of Conduct were highlighted. The motion proposed that LUSU would not promote or platform any content from these pages.
The Outcome:
Students raised questions about how the policy would work in practice, including its impact on freedom of speech and how LUSU could support students and groups affected by harmful content.
There were no votes against, and the motion was unanimously passed. LUSU will now have a formal stance on anonymous confession pages.
Read the policy here: Confession Pages Policy
The next meeting of Union Assembly takes place on Tuesday 1st December at 3pm in the Cavendish Colloquim.