KY’S HISTORY

KY was a shareholder in Tesvisio, the company behind the first commercial TV channel in Finland.

Student numbers increased quickly at the beginning of the 1960’s, leading to growing housing challenges. KY’s solution was to start building student housing on Ruusulankatu in Töölö and on Vaasankatu in Kallio.

1970’s: Turning KY Building into office space

Student union activities became more political in the 70’s. Political battles and, as a result, frequent changes in the KY Board depict the time at KY. A hot topic was the fate of the KY Building – should existing student housing be kept or should the building’s financial potential be better utilised? After a long debate, KY finally decided to change the building’s dormitory into office space.

1980’s: From pinstripes to overalls and politics to partying

The student union’s activity wasn’t as political in the 1980’s as in the previous decades. In the 1980s KY members partied in the student union’s own restaurants; one of the most popular nightclubs of the time, KY-Exit, was located in the KY Building. The use of overalls became more common as student life came closer to what it is today.

In the whirlwind of the casino economy, KY began to diversify its stock holdings and professionals were hired to lead KY-owned companies through the Ekomen Group.

KY was also active outside the student union, and the media diligently followed KY’s affairs. KY continued searching for its limits and offered financing for creating a new radio channel, Radio City.

1990’s: Emerging from depression

The deep depression in Finland at the beginning of the decade severely affected KY. The Ekomen Group declared bankruptcy in 1992 and KY struggled with grave financial difficulties. To balance its finances, KY sold its stock holdings in Amer. The representative council’s meeting leading to the decision was followed by the national news.

2000’s: KY in the new millennium

Increasing the service level was a major focus point of the first decade in the new millennium. In this spirit, KY created a fund for international exchange to support the students in their travelling expenses. In addition, the apartment offering kept on expanding when new apartment buildings were finished in Arabianranta in 2006 and on Arkadiankatu in 2009.

2010’s: KY as an association

As Aalto University and Aalto University Student Union were founded, KY’s status as a student union was retracted. KY as an association started its operations on the first of January 2010, and during the first years, KY searched for its place in the new union and looked for new directions. During the same year, KY Foundation began operating to provide financial support and other resources for students and associations.

In 2015, after more than 100 years in Töölö and 75 years in the KY Building, KY expanded to Otaniemi and focused the majority of its activities to the Otaniemi campus. To embrace the Aalto community in full, KY changed its official name to Aalto University Business Students in 2016.

2020’s: Embracing the Aalto Community

After the multiple floors of the KY Building had been empty for years and the overall condition of the building had been declining, KY’s Representative Council and KY Foundation made the decision to sell the iconic building in 2020. The move to Otaniemi was even further solidified by this as well as the efforts towards building the Student Center in cooperation with Aalto University, AYY and Teknologföreningen. The building, which will offer common spaces to all students and volunteers of the community, will hopefully be finished in the upcoming years.