December 2017
On Tuesday 12the December, the Students' Union held its first Student Council session for the year. This was the first Council session since the beginning of the turnaround phase where the introduction of Student Leaders were introduced for this academic year.
Following the Autumn Election of 2017, newly elected members met in MAL B18 to discuss important issues that students faced and have raised to the Students’ Union. Council meets at least once per term and gives you, the students, the opportunity to make final decisions on some big ideas that have been submitted to the Students’ Union since the beginning of term. Some key issues that were raised were about issues relating to academic support for students that were student carer and for a wider range of events that focuses on important liberation issues for students.
This term, Council was led by the Vice-Chair Michael Best Jr, elected by the members of Council, chaired his first ever session. Michael led Council through the agenda and acted as the impartial chair of the events. His role is to ensure that Council functions properly and that there is full participation during meetings, that all relevant matters are discussed and that effective decisions are made and carried out.
Additionally, the Sabbatical Officers delivered their reports to Council regarding the work and activities that they have been doing on behalf of students at Birkbeck. Officer Reports are very important as this Council and the wider student body is able to hold the actions of the student officers into account, when they represent Birkbeck students. A quick summary of the reports:
Nicholas Baker, Student Leader, reported on the current status of his 24-Hour Library Campaign and asked Council to reaffirm their support to the Campaign. Nicholas emphasised his strong belief in George Birkbeck’s founding principle of being able to “study at night” and felt that this should mean that students should be able to study in the library past midnight, especially during the busy exam period.
Eliyahu Goldsobel, Student Leader, reported on the Coexist campaign and other projects that he was working on. Eliyahu fed back about the last event that they did in the start of term and encouraged students to take part in the coexist campaign to share their cultural identity with the whole Birkbeck community. Another campaign Eliyahu was working on was about course representation and about a possible student-led trip to Israel/Palestine.
Ezimma Chigbo, Black Members’ Officer, discussed about their campaign regarding the attainment gap at Birkbeck and asked Council to contribute their ideas and support her in the research. In addition, Ezimma informed Council that she is looking to do more social activities for BME students at Birkbeck, and welcomed suggestions to her.
Ryan Auernigg, LGBQT Officer, spoke about his intention on getting Birkbeck into Pride in London and hopes that this will kick start the LGBQT Society.
If you wish to get involved in the working of Council or wish to be a member of Council, get in contact at studentsunion@bbk.ac.uk
You can read officer reports here.
