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Four relatively unsurprising things about OUSU Council

 1. It is boring

What are you expecting – a fucking fairground ride? Have you ever watched BBC Parliament? Or any Parliament in session? What you will learn is that sometimes democratic processes are really boring. But they’re important, so people like JCR Presidents and OUSU reps go, and bravely wave their little orange cards when they are told to vote. Whilst quietly crying inside because they have a lot of work that they should really go do instead.

Mostly, the only time Parliament is interesting is during Prime Minister’s Questions, where 50% of the week’s volume of bullshit is produced and unleashed into our atmosphere for no obvious reason. And no, its not very conducive to people wanting to speak. I’d take ‘a-little-bit-boring’ over ‘please stop talking, you’re making my logic-cells hurt.’

2. Right-wing people don’t feel able to speak

In the shock of finding somewhere on planet earth where they don’t feel super comfortable and in charge of everything all the time, a bunch of straight white cis men are suddenly getting a bit confused and calling it ‘discrimination’ in the student press all the time.

C’mon. You think the reason that all those people that are LGBTQ, BME, female, disabled and beyond are constantly up in arms is because oppression means being in a room where people disagree with you? I’m gonna give you a clue: the answer is no. Experiencing racism isn’t just like walking down the street all the time and being like ‘omg if I say something, someone might say something back to me that isn’t the same thing as what I just said, and I might have to defend my thoughts’. I’m not going to sit here and say what experiencing racism is like, because as a white woman I don’t experience it. But I’m going to go ahead and suggest it’s probably a whole lot worse than that.

Comparing being right-wing with ongoing structural oppression, histories of violent subjugation and everyday sexism isn’t just mind-blowingly stupid (and analytically lazy), its borderline offensive. The moment you have to walk through the streets of London in the knowledge you might be stopped and searched because of your political views, my sympathy will extend to you.

3. There are left-wing people at OUSU Council

Ok, so along with your elected JCR Presidents and OUSU reps, there are some left-wing people at Council. Dear god, help us all. You mean there are places where left-wing people get together and sometimes debate things they want their student union to do? What an appalling state of affairs that is.

Let’s first bear in mind that OUSU Council just refused to subsidise a left-wing political journal. (How did that happen? Was it magic? Did the left-wing people forget to vote? Or was it democracy? I can’t quite work it out.) Then, let’s bear in mind that there is approximately fuck all stopping anyone from organizing to change their student union. Just, you know, go there sometimes. L J Trup did it, and he turned up armed with sandals and crayons. My evil left-wing monolith crumbled in his wake. It can’t be that hard.

I don’t agree with the occasionally homogenous outlook of OUSU Council, but I can’t literally force you to go. If I did, that would be pretty oppressive. But if people aren’t stopping you going, I find it a bit hard to stomach that you’re then going to turn around and complain to another bunch of people that they go. Would you prefer it if when you said something, instead of debating with you about it, a JCR President gave you a cookie for turning up? Maybe that’s a good idea. I’m not sure. Let’s give it a whirl.

4. That’s not how OUSU Council works anyway

Turning up at OUSU Council isn’t actually how a lot of difficult decisions are made. Let me run you through it. Controversial group propose controversial motion. JCR Presidents ask their common rooms how they should vote. Common room says ‘go to Council and totally do not vote for that thing’. E.g. controversial motion last year on Israel and BDS. Controversial motion does not pass.

A lot of left-wing people don’t like OUSU Council because most of the time common rooms make the decisions before they even get there. Debate at OUSU Council is sometimes frustratingly pointless (for both sides), because it doesn’t matter if someone makes a really good point- or a really bad one – and it doesn’t matter if someone is left-wing or right-wing. The vote, especially if it’s an important one, e.g. the tuition fees one at the start of this year, is often pre-determined by common rooms.

If we want to improve the democratic mandate of council we need to make sure common rooms are debating these matters properly, and to make sure everyone feels comfortable speaking in their common rooms. Personally, I prefer this model, because I think people of more varied political persuasions go to JCR or MCR meetings. Some people don’t. But let’s have the debate about how to get common rooms more engaged. Not just about how one certain group of people do or don’t feel every other Wednesday at 5:30.

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