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ISSUE 700 3 JUNE 2019 exepose.com @Exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Exeter votes to stay in the NUS, again
Guild cancels Respect Festival performances Neha Shaji Contributor
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students voted, amounting to a 30 per cent turn out. At the time, this was the highest level of engagement in any singleissue vote recorded at Exeter. However, engagement decreased by over 79 per cent in 2019. According to campaigners, only four students attended the 28 May NUS Debate. Both the “For” and “Against” campaigns agreed the low student interest may reflect a lack of student engagement in the NUS. Grace Frain, Guild President and Students’ Guild VP Welfare & Diversity
XETER Students’ Guild decided to cancel the second day of Respect on Campus 2019, a two-day festival celebrating Exeter’s diversity and engaging the community in anti-prejudice initiatives. This announcement was made as a public Facebook post late afternoon on 30 May, approximately when the programme of the first day of Respect on Campus was wrapping up. The Guild said in the post that they “would like to apologise for the cancellation of the performance showcase aspect of Exeter Respect on Campus scheduled to take place on St. Luke’s Campus on 31 May. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the event.” They went on to apologise to students and staff planning to attend as well as acts scheduled to perform. When Exeposé asked for comment, a Guild Spokesperson said that the Guild would not elaborate upon the Facebook statement. Exeposé spoke to Candace Bansair, who was scheduled to perform at the festival. She expressed that she was “disappointed but not surprised” when she’d heard from an organiser that there would be no showcase. She expanded upon this, saying she “was unsurprised only because the organisation seemed a little off compared to the year before, in the sense that my....
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Image: Aaron Loose
Aaron Loose Editor
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HE Exeter Students’ Guild has voted to stay in the National Union of Students. Over 1,291 students voted, surpassing the 1,187 the referendum needed for the result to be legitimate. The online vote opened at 9am, Tuesday 28 May and closed at 4pm, Thursday 30 May 2019. The three options for voters were less diverse than those offered for ordinary student ideas. Voters could choose to vote “For” or “Against” the
Guild to remain affiliated. Voters could also choose to “abstain”. 681 students (52.75%) voted “For” continued affiliation, whilst 589 students (45.62%) voted “Against” the Guild’s continued affiliation to NUS. There were also 21 abstentions (1.63%). Grace Frain, Guild President and leader of the For Campaign, said: “It is great to see students use their voice about something they clearly feel so strongly about to help the Guild stay affiliated to NUS, who I believe have a huge part to play locally and nationally. Our campaign worked hard to engage students to under-
stand why staying affiliated would benefit them and the rest of our membership. I strongly believe that the Guild has a duty to improve the communication and engagement relating to NUS here at Exeter. I look forward to seeing how NUS continues to develop and I hope that our incoming Sabbatical Officers are able to engage and work positively with NUS.” The referendum was the third Exeter has held in fewer than five years. The previous two referendums also reached the conclusion that Exeter was better inside the union than outside of it. In the 2016 referendum, over 5,334
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