Willem won't run
Last term's Secretary of the Oxford Union has been banned from standing for office just over a week before the elections in which he intended to run for President.
Willem Marx faced a Senior Disciplinary Committee (SDC) of three ex-Union officers on Sunday following a complaint filed by fellow Standing Committee member Matt Richardson alleging 'dereliction of duty'.
Marx has been banned from standing for election for the next three terms, and has been permanently removed from Standing Committee. The SDC panel, comprising ex-Presidents and ex-Returning Officers, ruled that he had failed in his duty with regard to the writing and proper filing of minutes from last term's meetings of Standing Committee.
He acknowledges that the matter was a "serious issue" but states that he had been giving a week to address the situation and had been doing so. Richardson filed his complaint before the week period was up.
Marx described the proceedings of the SDC to The OxStu as "incredibly unprofessional". One undergraduate, who wishes to remain anonymous, and who was present at the hearing, added that the panel "seemed to be quite decided on the outcome from the start".
Marx cites problems not with the Union itself but with certain people involved in the running of it who perceive it as the "be all and end all." He told The OxStu that he hoped the Union "doesn't get damaged by these idiots."
20th Feb 2003