University Of Manchester Students' Union
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The University of Manchester Students' Union is the representative body of students at the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, England, and is the UK's largest students' union with over 40,000 members. It was formed out of the merger between UMIST Students' Association (USA) and University of Manchester Union (UMU) when the parent organisations (
UMIST The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for Research univer ...
and the
Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...
) merged on 1 October 2004. It does not have a president, but is instead run by an 8-member executive team who share joint responsibility.


Governance and decision making


Executive Team

The current University of Manchester Students' Union Exec Team contains eight full-time sabbatical officers. All have their own areas of responsibility, but share joint responsibility as trustees of the Students' Union. Any student can stand to be an elected member of the Exec Team in the student elections that take place in March. All students are eligible to vote in these elections online. For the academic year 2023-24, the current roles are as follows: * Union Affairs - Hannah Mortimer * Activities & Culture - Robbie Beale * Research - Ansab Ali * Wellbeing & Liberation - Aisha Akram * City & Community - Tesnime Safraou * Faculty of Humanities - Katie Jackson * Faculty of Science & Engineering - Raluca-Elena Valcescu * Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health - Raheel Ansari


Facilities


Steve Biko Building

The Steve Biko Building (often referred to simply as the Biko Building, or Students' Union) is the Union's primary building and the home of its administrative offices. The building went under major redevelopment in 2012 which included a renovation of the foyer and meeting rooms, the addition of the new Café and the introduction of a new store and sandwich shop. The building also contains a hairdressers and a print shop. Further renovation in 2023 added various food stalls. The building is named after anti-
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
activist
Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and ...
. In October 2012, the university announced that it would be awarding £4 million to the Students' Union in order to make further building improvements. This is likely to involve the construction of another floor on the Steve Biko building and should be completed by 2018.


Barnes Wallis Building

The Barnes Wallis Building, named after
Barnes Wallis Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack ...
, is situated on the former
UMIST The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for Research univer ...
Campus (now North Campus). It originally contained the offices for the UMIST Students'Association. Unlike in the Biko building, the Students' Union does not occupy the whole building but has facilities on the ground floor. In 2013, the Union withdrew from these premises as part of the University of Manchester's Campus Masterplan.


Manchester Academy

Manchester Academy refers to the University of Manchester Students' Union's four concert venues. They are situated on Oxford Road both within and adjacent to the Biko building. "Manchester Academy" was originally the name of the largest of these venues (see picture), but became an umbrella term for both itself and the Union's other venues in 2003. It has hosted such big names as Ian Brown, Muse, Prince, Kylie Minogue, The Stranglers, Super Furry Animals, Deftones, Pink Floyd, The Cure, The Coral, Blur, Oasis, George Clinton, Nirvana, Manic Street Preachers, The Libertines, The Ramones, Billy Talent, Fightstar, Lost Prophets, Babyshambles, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Supergrass, It Bites and Death Cab for Cutie.


Student activities

There are many student-run activities which involve thousands of students in various roles including media, community volunteering fundraising for charity and over 250 societies.


Pangaea Festival

University of Manchester Students' Union is notable for regularly organising and hosting what is reportedly the largest student-led festival in Europe. This is a triannual event where approximately 6000 students are invited to the Students' Union to enjoy a multi-venue music and arts night utilising rooms throughout the Steve Biko Building and the adjacent Manchester Academy 1 building, to mark the end of most University of Manchester undergraduate exams and a special "Freshers" edition in September.


The Mancunion

''The Mancunion'' is the University of Manchester's Students' Union's newspaper. It is distributed across the city and has a readership of 20,000. The current Editor-in-chief is Charlie Spargo, the Deputy Editor-in-chief is Marcus Johns, and it has an Editorial Team of around 30 volunteers. The paper has widespread circulation within the Greater Manchester student community and it is believed to have the largest circulation of a student paper in the United Kingdom.


Student Action

Student Action is a community volunteering project that sends student volunteers out to work in the local community. In 2010, there were over 2500 active volunteers working anything from 20 to 300 hours over the year.


Manchester RAG

Manchester RAG is the official fundraising arm of the University of Manchester Students' Union. It is responsible for helping facilitate the fundraising activities of all students in Manchester, and in doing so promoting the personal development of students. Last year Manchester RAG helped University of Manchester students raise £190,000 for a variety of charities, ranging from small community based charities in the North West, to large international development organisations. The vast majority of funds raised come from the many events that Manchester RAG organise throughout the year. Popular events include Jailbreak, a sponsored hitch where participants have to get as far away from Manchester without spending a penny in 30 hours, Bogle, a 55-mile walk around greater Manchester, and Beerfest, a three-day student run beer festival which attracts over 1500 students annually. RAG also runs many "challenge" events such as sponsored expeditions to Mt Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp and the Great Wall of China. All fundraising is conducted by hundreds of student volunteers, and the organisation of RAG is run primarily by a committee of students who volunteer their time in addition to their studies.


Fuse FM

Fuse FM Fuse FM is a student radio station broadcasting every day during term time from Manchester Students' Union at the University of Manchester. Fuse FM is run entirely by volunteers studying at the university, led by an elected Station Manager and D ...
is University of Manchester Students' Union radio station. The Student Union Executive accepted the a proposal to create the station in July 2000 and work began on creating a base for the station, which was originally called MintFM. Space in the Union basement was originally converted into a fully functioning broadcast studio and production suite. Fuse FM went on air for the first time on 15 February 2001 at 06:00, broadcasting on 106.2 FM as well as via internet streaming. Since 2003, Fuse FM has broadcast for four weeks in each academic semester. Fuse Fm was briefly denied its Spring 2008 licence to broadcast, due to the startup of community radio station RockTalk. However RockTalk collapsed in late 2007 and Ofcom granted a licence for FuseFM's 16th Broadcast. In September 2011, Fuse FM went online only broadcasting throughout the university term time. And on 29 April 2012 began broadcasting from new state of the art studios on the first floor of the Steve Biko building after generous funding from the Manchester Learning Enrichment Fund and donation of equipment from the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
. Fuse has a history of high quality student broadcasting and its DJs have won awards in the past three National Student Radio Awards. In 2007 Becca Day-Preston won the Bronze Prize for Female Presenter of the Year, Andrew Jackson won Male Presenter of the Year in 2006, while Minnie Stephenson claimed the Female Presenter of the Year award in 2005.


Societies

There are many clubs and societies operating within the Union and the university. Common areas include sports, hobbies, politics and religion. Sports societies are not operated by the Union but rather by the university itself through the Athletics Union. There are several fairs during the freshers period in which various clubs and societies promote themselves. There are a wide range of religious societies and places of worship within the university. A religions fair is held too, where information is distributed about the different societies. There are large
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
,
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
,
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish,
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
,
Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
,
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
societies, which hold regular events and meetings. Most of the large subjects have their own society, which generally represents the interests of students in that subject as well as offering advice and support to students and arranging socials. Examples include the BA Econ Society, the History Society and Faculty of Life Sciences Society. The university also has a strong Drama tradition and former students include
Meera Syal Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is an English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and by portraying Sanjeev's grandmoth ...
,
Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. Part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s, he and his comedy partner Rik Mayall starred in the television sitc ...
,
Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (; 7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Adrian Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University, and was a pioneer of alternative come ...
and
Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...
. The Drama Society holds a yearly drama festival, involving 13 plays in five theatres and over 120 students, as well as coordinating several independent student-run productions. The Fringe Society in 2006 took twelve plays and over 70 students to the Edinburgh Fringe festival under the company name "Johnny Miller Presents". The company was awarded a ThreeWeeks Editors' Award, which honours the most talked about and exciting people and companies at the festival. Other academic societies combine leisure and learning to create events and to build a community of members interested in particular areas or subjects. These are the Molecular Networks Society, the UKSEDS Society, the Consulting Society, or th
Astrobiology Society
to mention a few. In February 2021, the latter put together a panel of experts in Astrobiology for the event "Universal Dialogues", one of the biggest online events in the history of the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, with over 700 attendees from all over the world.
Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...
,
Didier Queloz Didier Patrick Queloz (; born 23 February 1966) is a Swiss astronomer. He is the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where he is also a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as a professor at the ...
, Carol Cleland, David Duner,
Philip Ball Philip Ball (born 1962) is a British science writer. For over twenty years he has been an editor of the journal ''Nature'', for which he continues to write regularly. He is a regular contributor to '' Prospect'' magazine and a columnist for ' ...
and Richard J. Roberts discussed together topics such as the definition and meaning of life, whether we are alone in the universe or not, or the social and cultural implications of encountering an extraterrestrial civilisation. The Astrobiology Society, founded just in August 2020, received in June 2021 the 'Society of the Year 2021 Award' from the UoM Students' Union, acknowledging all the work donde by its committee members and the achievements made over the year.


Notable campaigns and issues


Twinning with a Palestinian University

University of Manchester Students' Union is twinned with An Najah University, Nablus, Palestine. A motion to enact the twinning was passed in a General Meeting in March 2007. The meeting was attended by over 600 students and the motion was passed by a majority of over 50 votes In November 2007 a motion was proposed in the general meeting. It resolved to freeze the University of Manchester students' Union's association with Al Najah University whilst awaiting a statement "denouncing terror and disassociating it from all terrorist organisations". An-Najah responded to the motion with a full statement written by the Right to Education campaign. An-Najah rejected the motion and all the accusations: "Neither the University nor its Student Council is a terrorist organisation, and the implication that they are is insulting." They added that the motion is: "defamatory because it repeatedly implies that ANU and its Student Council promotes, facilitates or has links with terrorism." An amendment was put forward by the "protect our twinning campaign". The amendment resolved to accept the invitation made by An-Najah University for an olive tree from the university to be planted on campus at Manchester as a gesture of peace and as a symbol of life, rather than requiring An Najah to accept the statement denouncing terrorism. This amendment passed with almost a two-thirds majority of the attendance of over 1100 students. The twinning would have ended in March 2010, in accordance with University of Manchester Students' Union Bye-Laws; however the sign was renewed by a decision of the executive team and remained. In October 2014, a motion was brought to the Students' Union to renew the sign and the twinning motion for an additional 3 years, and the idea went to referendum. Votes were 693 in favor and 204 against. However, a legal challenge was brought to the Students' Union about the nature of the twinning motion and the sign itself, and the Students' Union responded by removing the large sign in March 2015.


History

A students' union and refectory building existed at Owens College on the site afterwards used for the Christie Library (1898). A larger union and refectory building was built in 1909 on Burlington Street. Both these buildings were adjoined by a gymnasium. The union and refectory building was enlarged in 1936 but the union moved to the new union building built at 242–256 Oxford Road by J. S. Beaumont from 1953 to 1956. In 1960-65 the same architect was responsible for a new refectory and staff house on the Burlington Street site (a building which included the Moberly Tower hall of residence). More recently, the Students' Union has experienced a number of controversies around the treatment of students employed as staff members in the union's bars, cafes and admin offices. In 2021, UMSU was accused by student staff of trying to coerce them into agreeing to 'poverty wages' as part of the government's furlough scheme; the union also allegedly failed to communicate with student staff about wages, workplace safety and hours during lockdown. The union only appeared to reverse its decision following criticism in both student and local media.


Visits

In 1968 the Labour
Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...
, Patrick Walker, gave a speech, interrupted by many protesters. The protesters were expelled from the university for the rest of the year. Michael Heseltine visited in November 1983, and was attacked with paint. His time of visit was disclosed the day before. Two hundred anti-nuclear protestors were outside the student union, and one sprayed Heseltine with red paint, from a detergent bottle concealed in a plastic bag. Students chanted 'better red than dead'. Heseltine was to speak to Conservative students at 12pm. Heseltine entered the building but student protesters prevented him from getting him into the venue to speak, for fifty minutes. At around 12.50pm, eighteen uniformed officers, and a battering ram, got Heseltine in to speak. Heseltine borrowed a white shirt from one of the police. As Heseltine walked across the platform, two eggs were thrown, but missed. Student chants, littered with vile obscenities, interrupted Heseltine's ten minute speech, from around thirty protesters. One chant of 'jobs not bombs' went on for one minute. The Manchester University CND emphatically did not support the attack, and said that the attack was caused by the Socialist Worker and Revolutionary Communist Party students. Fifty demonstrators had stopped traffic by laying down on the main road outside, including the Rev Alfred Willetts. Also on Friday 19 November 1983, 1,500 peace demonstrators had gathered at the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
, where Heseltine was to speak, with two eggs hitting his car. Inside, he was persistently heckled in his hour long speech, and Barry Blinko, of the Socialist Worker Students Society, took to the stage, shouting for two whole minutes. Half of the audience gave Mr Heseltine a standing ovation. Leon Brittan visited on 1 March 1985 at 6.30pm, known as the 'Battle of Brittan'. After Heseltine, the local police were not taking any chances whatsoever, and would take any brutal method required, with any disruption. Across the building was a large banner 'Support the miners one year on'. From out of nowhere, around thirty police from
Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
's Tactical Aid Group, similar to London's
Special Patrol Group The Special Patrol Group (SPG) was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally based mobile capacity to combat serious public disorder, crime, and terrorism, that could not be dealt with by loca ...
, arrived from Dover Street, and forced people out of the way, injuring many people in the process. ''Manchester Evening News'' Saturday 2 March 1985, page 1 Thirty three people were charged with public order offences, three were charged with assault, and two convicted. Protesters had planned to 'turn their back' on Mr Brittan, as he spoke. But after the brutality of the police Tactical Aid Group, the protesters changed their mind, and there followed an 'improvised rant'. Of 200 in the audience, half were hurling foul-mouthed abuse. Brittan called the foul-mouthed student protesters 'a bunch of lunatics'. The THES described the protesters as 'infantile', and it gave 'higher education a bad name with the public'. At the courts, nineteen protesters were convicted in April and May 1985. The BBC featured the protest in an episode of ''Brass Tacks'' entitled 'A Fair Degree of Force'. The Welfare Secretary of the union had been brutally assaulted by the police, and as a qualified doctor, took civil action against Greater Manchester Police in 1991.


Famous former officers

* Daniel Brennan, Baron Brennan (President 1964–65) *
Anna Ford Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English retired journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British ...
(President 1966–67) - Anna Ford was the first female President of UMU in 1966-67 and, on recommendation of the Students' Union became Chancellor of The
Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...
on 16 December 2001. Upon the merger with
UMIST The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for Research univer ...
she became the co-chancellor of the new
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
. *
Liam Byrne Liam Dominic Byrne (born 2 October 1970) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, previously Birmingham Ho ...
(Communications Officer 1992–93) - (former Chief Secretary to the Treasury) * Jeff Smith MP (Entertainments Officer 1984–85) - (Member of Parliament)


References


Further reading

*"Reports from the men's union, the women's union and the College of Technology union"; by N. C., E. D. & I. B. in: ''The Journal of the University of Manchester''. 1 (3) 1939: 77–79.


External links


University of Manchester Students' Union website

Manchester Debating Union

University of Manchester Students' Union archive
at
University of Manchester Library The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Manchester Students' Union Culture of the University of Manchester Manchester University Students' Union