Rich Croker: SU President
The word most often heard last term was ‘kitchens’ - this term it appears to be ‘portering’. So, just how important are the lodges in the residential colleges to the life of the average student?
There’s no denying that the porters provide essential services to students - from secure mail delivery, access to keys and equipment, to directions and taxi money when things aren’t going right. But more important are the unquantifiable services they provide. With sympathetic cups of tea, and knowledge of people and colleges that enables them to spot when something’s awry, they are always there. The truth is that they are an essential cog in the wider college system. But with the move to Heslington East seemingly imminent the question of what aspects are crucial to a college at the University of York arises.
It is not enough to have a college that consists of a bar quiz during the week and a Club D or Xtra event at the weekend. This social aspect is important, and the JCRCs perform other essential and varied services to students, but they alone cannot be ‘The College’. The staff infrastructure is crucial - provosts, administrators, facilities managers, deans and tutors provide vital support. The sense of loyalty and belonging must be just as strong among the staff as it is among students. The truth is that York will never be a Durham, Oxford or Cambridge in regards to the college system - indeed, it doesn’t attempt to be, and shouldn’t. Some of the systems used at those Universities are too archaic and out of date for the needs and wants of the modern day student.
The simple answer is that if the University wants to keep attracting students to York on the back of the college system, there has to be a strong commitment to it across all areas of student life. Continual cuts to the bars, portering and the services inside the colleges will destroy the atmosphere they need to thrive. Preaching commitment but enforcing cuts helps nobody, least of all the future of the University.
