Goldsmiths Students' Union
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The Goldsmiths Students' Union (GSU) is the union of representatives of the student body of Goldsmiths University of London, a British higher education institution in New Cross, London. The GSU is a registered charity that is independent of the university itself, and advocates for student interests across academic, social, and welfare dimensions. It is responsible for organising social events, workshops, and lobbying for improvements to campus facilities.[1]
Structure[edit]
Elected positions[edit]
The GSU is run by elected officers. Elections typically occur in the spring, at which time students vote on candidates for various positions. These consist of four full-time remunerated positions and fourteen part-time positions. The elections are independently verified by a returning officer from the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.[2]
Annual report[edit]
Each year, the GSU publishes its Annual Impact Report, which outlines the organization's work, campaigns, and achievements. The document is designed in-house, presented to the college management board, and made available to students.[3]
SU Bar[edit]
The SU Bar is GSU's 1,000-person capacity live music and club venue, hosting two licensed bars, a nightclub, a common room, and a cafeteria. There is also a conference room and a multi-faith prayer room. The GSU primarily organises student-led events and hosts larger musical acts. Blur played at the SU Bar on June 22, 2009.[4] Two of Blur's members, Graham Coxon and Alex James, studied at Goldsmiths before forming the band.[5]
Controversies[edit]
In October 2014, the GSU faced criticism in the tabloid-like student newspaper The Tab after voting down a proposal to commemorate wars and genocides, including Holocaust Memorial Day and Armenian Genocide Day. Goldsmiths' student Colin Cortbus, who initially proposed the commemoration, co-authored The Tab article.[6] Goldsmiths' Education Officer Sarah El-afy described the initial statement as "Eurocentric" and "pro-British-colonialist" due to its exclusion of genocides and wars Britain has perpetrated. According to the union, El-afy offered to help put forward a redrafted version of the motion for the next Student Assembly meeting to include genocides affecting people outside of Europe. The union issued a statement claiming that "redrafting motions and re-entering them at a later date isn’t unusual in students’ unions and shouldn’t be misinterpreted as opposition".[7]
In May 2015, the Union's Welfare and Diversity Officer, Bahar Mustafa, sparked a public outcry when white students, and in another case, both white and male students, were discouraged from attending a student union event on diversity intended for black, minority, and ethnic women.[8][9] Mustafa was accused of racism and sexism, which she denied due to "racism and sexism [describing] structures of privilege based on race and gender".[10] A group of students petitioned for a vote of no confidence in Mustafa, but the petition was signed by less than 3% of the student body and therefore failed to trigger a referendum.[11]
In May 2022, David Hirsh - a senior sociology lecturer at Goldsmiths criticised the National Union of Students (NUS) "decolonize education" camapign claiming it had antimsemetic nuances, to which the then-president of GSU Sara Bafo tweeted "D*vid H*rsh is a far white supremacist." [12] Bafo received heavy backlash from the outgoing president of NUS Larissa Kennedy, who labelled the decision to launch an investigation into the tweets claiming it was "anti-racist work", but remained strongly supported by the GSU. After an on-going dispute online, Bafo was pressured to step-down. In respose, the Goldsmiths University and College Union (GUCU)delivered a supportinve message, criticising the disproportionate way in which Black Muslim women student activists and leaders were targeted in a hostile manner and the way in which Goldsmiths Senior Management was pressuring for an investigation into Bafo.
| Institution | Goldsmiths, University of London |
|---|---|
| Location | London, SE14 |
| President | Victoria Chwa |
| Sabbatical officers | Isabelle Tarran Gammorah Britton-Gibson Nour Matar |
| Other officers | Samuel Shipp (Disabilities Officer) Sneha Gupta (International Officer) Daria Duda (Trans & Non-Binary Officer) Ellen Ringrose (Women's Officer) |
| Affiliations | National Union of Students of the United Kingdom |
| Website | www.goldsmithssu.org |
See also[edit]
- The Leopard newspaper
- Smiths Magazine
- Wired radio
References[edit]
- ^ "About Goldsmith Student Union". Goldsmiths Students' Union!. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "Elections - Student Government Association". Student Engagement. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Blur announce intimate warm-up gigs". TheGuardian.com. 17 April 2009.
- ^ "Alex James". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ "Goldsmiths Row As Holocaust Motion Voted Down Over 'Colonial' Fears". HuffPost UK. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ "Goldsmiths University Row As Holocaust Motion Voted Down Over 'Colonial' Fears". Huffington Post UK. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ "Ruling made over whether under-fire student equality officer should keep her role". The Independent. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Moyer, Justin Wm. (24 April 2015). "Excluding whites and men from diversity event at British university elicits anger". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "'I can't be racist if I'm from an ethnic minority'. Discuss". BBC. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ Rush, James (27 May 2015). "Bahar Mustafa: Goldsmiths Students' Union diversity officer to keep her job after vote of no confidence petition fails". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ Harpin, Lee. "Goldsmiths asks student union to begin antisemitism probe over Jewish lecturer slurs". www.jewishnews.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2024.