YUSU Societies Committee have angered students by refusing to ratify Cage Soc after their appeal.
The society was formed so students could appreciate Nicolas Cage in a similar vein to DougSoc.
The society has been “successfully running” for over a year, with an active Facebook page, and a petition last term to get the man himself to come to Willow.
In an email which Society Chair, Ali Amer, gave to Vision, he outlined what the society would do, including “Playing Quidditch better than Harry Potter Society”, “watching and appreciating Nic Cage films”, “themed events, acting classes and fund-raisers”. He pointed out that the Harry Potter society, QI Society and Douglas Adams society all exist, and that there is “absolutely no overlap of interest”.
A reply from YUSU Societies Committee, chaired by YUSU Activities Officer Anna Mcgivern referred to their application as a “joke” and did not take it seriously.
She said “you have still not outlined Societal benefit for members”.
However, in Ali’s original email, he asked members of the society to give reasons to ratify it. Jess Jones asked for “Nicolas Cage socials, culminating in Willow” and looked wistfully back at the Willow petition. Other members questioned why there was a cocktail soc but no CageSoc and pointed towards the fact that Lincoln have a ratified CageSoc.
Ali Amer replied to concerns from the Societies Committee by saying that they “Did not address the arguments” he posed in favour of the society and that he was “disappointed” with the decision.
Wide support for Nicolas Cage has spread across Facebook in the meantime, with students partaking in ‘NicNominate’ where they post pictures of Nicolas Cage pulling a certain facial expression, and ‘nominate’ their friends with an emotion for them to post.
McGivern added “the unanimous decision is that the society should not be ratified”.
This just further proof that YUSU’s approach to whole activities and societies are out of touch.
Why should a society have to provide a “Societal benefit for members”? Why can’t a CageSoc exist where members just have a bit of fun and take the piss while getting drunk and watching movies? Why is that sort of club denied the ability to book rooms and have a stall at Freshers Fair by an elite group who get to sit on the “Societies Committee”?
Who even sits on the Committee? Since the website provides no information (http://www.yusu.org/activities/societies/committee) I have no idea. Where is the accountability?
CageSoc might be a bit trivial, but other decisions made by this unaccountable group just simply aren’t trivial. The FemSoc fiasco last year proves this. LIPS (now called GAP) and Palestine Solidarity Society also struggled to be ratified last year. Why?
The only conclusion ordinary students can possibly make from all of this is that the entire Actives structures in YUSU are not fit for purpose and do not represent the needs and desires of students.
“CageSoc might be a bit trivial” Come on now, don’t trivialise the first half of your comment.
you know what the real joke is?:
That we are paying anna mcgivern for being who she is: useless, moody, ineffective, a bitch and (i could go on)
You can criticize Anna’s approach to her job all you like. You can cite her incompetence, her inability to reply to and send out emails. You can address her lack of professionalism, the fact she’s often absent. You can attack her basic lack of respect towards the Societies that she is supposed to serve. You could even claim that Chris West might have even done a better job that her.
But is there really any reason to call her a ‘bitch’? Is there any reason to use such sexist language and launch a personal attack on her. Really?
The way YUSU decides which societies to ratify and which not to seems completely arbitrary to me. Students clearly want the society, so YUSU should facilitate that. We (supposedly) have representative democracy, where the sabb officers, including the activities officer, listen to us and do what we want, not whatever they want. FemSoc still isn’t ratified even though its been very successful and is running well and the Facebook group has over 500 members. (So there is clearly a want and a need) Usually the “societal benefit for members” is only about employability, like that’s the only thing societies are for, when actually, giving students away to socialise and discover new interests and other people with the same interests, and providing a safe environment to socialise and unwind from university stress is also very important. Not everything the SU does should be about transferable skills and CVs. In fact, LGBTQ Social is still ratified, and all they do is socialise.
Many societies run just fine without YUSU money. Many manage without ever even asking YUSU for any grants, so the financial argument for not ratifying them is just BS.
Having said that, hopefully not having YUSU’s recognition won’t stop them from carrying on and being successful. They will still be able to book rooms, but individual students will have to do it, rather than doing it as an official society. And they should still be able to have a stall at Freshers’ Fair. Societies obviously get a stall for free, but other student groups are supposed to as well (but most people don’t know that, and YUSU don’t exactly advertise it or make it clear what students are entitled to)
As for the weekly news letter (the term “weekly” being used loosely, since they haven’t sent one in over 3 months) I think they should still be able to get space in it.
Basically what I’m saying is YUSU isn’t the be all and end all. Students are resourceful. CageSoc have managed for a year without them, so they’ll carry on, and maybe get ratified in the Summer, or next year.
The real travesty is that The Simpsons society was rejected for ratification. I would have wanted to be a member and, considering its continued popularity on TV, I reckon a lot more students would feel the same.
Pretty jealous of CageSoc. They got a reply from Anna!
I’d guess that many societies don’t actually need any money from YUSU. All they want is the ability to book rooms so they can put on events, and have a stall at Freshers Fair. And yet:
“Societies obviously get a stall for free, but other student groups are supposed to as well (but most people don’t know that, and YUSU don’t exactly advertise it or make it clear what students are entitled to)”
I literally had no idea that this was the case. Is it published somewhere online?
“Who even sits on the Committee? Since the website provides no information (http://www.yusu.org/activities/societies/committee) I have no idea. Where is the accountability?”
This. Let’s have some names, please.
Also….
“They will still be able to book rooms, but individual students will have to do it, rather than doing it as an official society”
Ok, but if you have an external speaker or a range of other events you’re supposed to complete an Events Management Form. Won’t this only be accepted for ratified societies? Or do people just not bother with the immense bureaucracy and put on events regardless?
Any clarification from anyone would be appreciated.
This story, alondside the one in Nouse a few weeks ago (http://www.nouse.co.uk/2014/02/11/society-heads-slam-yusu-management/) really demonstrate how hopelessly poor all the Activities stuff has been handled. It’s beyond a joke.
I really don’t see why any application to form a Society should ever be refused ratification unless they’re promoting sexist, racist, homomophobic, transphobic and generally unsavory views.