Domino Effect
Corpus Christi JCR has accidentally disaffiliated from both OUSU and the NUS following a farcical JCR meeting last Sunday.
This move comes as the latest development of a trend of disafilliation by Oxford colleges, including Keble and St Edmund Hall.
The Corpus motion to re-affiliate to both bodies could not be passed because the proposer, OUSU Representative Joe Hall, was unable to be present at the meeting as was the seconder, who was in Germany. The motion was therefore declared unconstitutional and automatically failed.
Once the implications of the failure were realised, the JCR attempted to produce an emergency motion to reaffiliate. One suggestion was that an amendment could be made to the emergency motion, stating that the JCR noted the death of Princess Margaret, and would therefore reaffiliate to OUSU. JCR President Jack Clift ruled this unreasonably controversial, however, and so Corpus JCR remains at present, independent of both the NUS and OUSU.
An emergency JCR meeting has been called, to which OUSU President Ruth Hunt is invited as a guest speaker. Hunt's response to the accidental disaffiliation was simply that "these things happen". Clift expects the JCR to rejoin both unions, but will be happy with any decision that is "the result of intelligent debate."
Whether Clift's expectation of re-affiliation to NUS will be met is uncertain. JCR member Richard Brooks spoke of the general apathy among undergraduates in relation to the union, which is often seen to place too much emphasis on the "irrelevant" issue of fees. He also drew attention to Ruth Hunt's criticisms of NUS in the OxStu last week: "If the OUSU President doesn't care that much, why should anyone else?"
Teddy Hall JCR also took the decision to leave the NUS last Friday. This was a controversial result, however, as re-affiliation only failed to pass due to the lack of a two thirds majority. Only 37 people attended the meeting, of which a majority of 18 supported the motion to re-affiliate, with only 14 people opposing the motion. It was the 5 abstainees who therefore changed the balance.
The proposer of the motion, Lucy Currie, spoke of her disappointment at the failure to re-affiliate, and attributed the result to a low turnout, itself the result of poor publicity.
JCR President Ali Richardson, who spoke against the motion, defended the "perfectly reasonable turnout" but has admitted that Lucy's request for a college referendum will be considered, if it is deemed constitutional.
Whether it will be found so in Teddy Hall JCR constitution, currently under review due to the fact that all amendments in the past decade have been scribbled in the margin in felt-tip pen, remains to be seen.
Several other colleges will also be voting on re-affiliation in the next few weeks.
14th Feb 2002