The pandemic has had a profound impact upon the lives of Cambridge students, but this hasn’t put a stop to the wins we’ve achieved via students mobilising for change.
The pandemic has had a profound impact upon the lives of Cambridge students, but this hasn’t put a stop to the wins we’ve achieved via students mobilising for change.
After a long fought campaign led by the tireless efforts of Zero Carbon and the Ethical Affairs Campaign, the Vice-Chancellor finally announced that the University would be divesting all direct and indirect investments from the fossil fuel industry. This was soon followed by numerous colleges announcing their plans to end their complicity in funding polluting industries. We further mobilised the student voice to win a ballot in Regent House opposing reforms to the oversight of the University’s Endowment Fund this April, defending the democratic channels through which staff and students have held the University to account for its investment decisions.
Building shared spaces and networks of solidarity amongst our members has been a key goal of this year’s SU. Despite the impact of COVID-19, we were able to hold our annual Reclaim the Night event to express solidarity with those impacted by sexual violence at night. The Women’s Campaign and FLY coordinated an online vigil in Lent Term where women and non-binary students came together to express our collective grief, with college-level women’s officers, feminist societies and the Old Vag Club providing alternative platforms for creative reflection upon the principles of the event.
Student and staff solidarity has remained central to our efforts to hold the University accountable for its pandemic response. With the Cambridge Defend Jobs Campaign, we successfully prevented planned redundancies at Queen’s and Trinity College in Michaelmas Term. We have also been collaborating with the Justice for Workers Campaign to interrogate low pay and poor working conditions across the collegiate University. Our Welfare and Community Officer has also been working closely with UCU to support their campaigns for Union Recognition and to improve working conditions for college supervisors.
The Student’s Union is only as strong as the collective voice of our members and we will continue to be a platform for students to push for positive changes and big wins.