Ngwena and Humphrys accused of deceiving students
Two Motions of Censure against Ben Humphrys, YUSU Welfare Officer, and Tim Ngwena, YUSU President, were raised at Thursday’s Union General Meeting (UGM).
Miles Layram, a student who has been at the forefront of a campaign to reinstate portering hours, argued that Ngwena has acted “directly against the UGM campaigns mandate” concerning portering.
Layram believes that the Officers deceived students, and that they did a “breathtakingly careless… job of the autumn welfare dossier.” He added that the spring term portering dossier was “semi-literate”.
Humphrys and Ngwena spoke together against the Motions of Censure, outlining that – despite a £500,000 cut to student services – this year they have managed to improve college welfare groups and the commitment they have made to the Heslington West campus.
Ngwena stated: “Ben and I have done exactly what we’ve been able to.” Humphrys continued: “We can’t fall into the trap of shouting at the University… [like] other Unions.”
Layram maintained that the motion was “not a motion of no confidence… [and] not about elections”, despite the motions being raised a week before students are set to vote in this year’s elections, with both Ngwena and Humphrys seeking re-election as President and Academic Officer, respectively.
Layram added: “Whilst Tim Ngwena and Ben Humphrys may have done good work in non-campaigns areas, and may be popular on a personal level, these things do not give them a licence to mislead students.”
Charlie Leyland, Academic Affairs Officer, spoke in defence of Humphrys and Ngwena, saying, “sometimes the minority doesn’t outweigh the majority… I’ve sat in meetings where they’ve [Humphrys and Ngwena] vehemently argued against these issues.”
The first of the motions on the night was also proposed by Layram, and aims to “lobby the management to adopt… a ring fenced rent increase of 7.5 pence a week in exchange for evening student-porter shifts.” Layram stated that “the rise is so small that it won’t register” with the average undergraduate.
Humphrys argued against the motion. Humphrys’ reasoning behind his opposition is due to the proposed rise in rent fees. He quoted a statement from Jane Grenville, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Students, continuing: “It is unrealistic to ask for a 7.5 pence rise when we could get it for free.”
Humphrys also cited the possibility that student welfare teams could pick up the lost portering hours.
Jason Rose, Campaigns Officer, continued the discussion of portering, proposing a motion for a replacement plan of action, which was seconded by Humphrys. Rose’s motion called for a mandate to “develop campaigns to push for 24/7 portering on campus”, and “paid student porters to temporarily fill positions in Vanbrugh and Derwent.” This coincided with a motion proposed by Humphrys concerning rent banding, “to support a limited rent banding system which allows some distinction to be made between the worst and best rooms.”
Chris Etheridge, one of the Democracy and Services election candidates, was not present at his last UGM in his current role of Campaigns Officer.
Another controversial motion, proposed by Amy McKessy, called for a Constitutional Amendment to the obligatory definition of a YUSU Disability Officer, who has to self-define as disabled. McKessy said that, as a student wishing to be a candidate for the position, “I shouldn’t feel I have to self-define as disabled in order to make a difference.” With regards to the current ruling, she continued that it, “segregates rather than integrates”, and therefore means that “inclusion is excluded people.”
Leyland spoke out against the motion, feeling that this redefinition would cause complications with the definition of Officers in a variety of Union roles.
The meeting ended with Officers’ Questions, one of which was: “Who has been your favourite person to work with over the past year?” Rhianna Kinchin, Student Activities Officer, won with a total of two votes.
Voting for motions opens from Monday at 4pm, and votes may be cast through the YUSU website: www.yusu.org.
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From what I’ve heard, Chris has been on campus from around 5 or 6 am each morning over the last week. I’m not surprised he couldn’t attend the meeting; most students would be suffering from exhaustion after all that!
“Chris Etheridge, one of the Democracy and Services election candidates, was not present at his last UGM in his current role of Campaigns Officer.”
That’s a bit of a drive-by shooting Camilla.
@ Anon, maybe it says something that he feels he needs to put so much effort into persuading people to vote for him… Walker FTW.
“The meeting ended with Officers’ Questions, one of which was: “Who has been your favourite person to work with over the past year?” Rhianna Kinchin, Student Activities Officer, won with a total of two votes. ”
I do hope the two people who voted this way were immediately referred to a doctor for treatment…
‘Excalibur’, I think it’s fair to say that at this point most candidates are putting as much effort, or more, into engaging with people. If anything this probably says something about their dedication.
It seems a tad unfair how often Chris gets attacked on this website of late. Nobody’s perfect, but he’s worked very hard all year for students as has Jason.
Thanks Anon. And “Kianna”, why would people need treatment for supporting an Officer that has only done good in the last year and has always been happy to help, even when stressed or under media attack?