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NEWS EXTRA

Uni CU in battle with Students’ Union

Hull University’s UCCF Christian Union is considering taking legal action against the University’s Student Union, after its status as a university society was revoked.

The Student Union Council voted overwhelmingly to disallow the UCCF CU’s constitution on 26 January, claiming it was “discriminatory”. They objected to the fact that people wishing to become executive members had to sign the CU’s doctrinal basis statement.

Simeon Livesey, vice-president of the UCCF CU, said: “According to Council, the doctrinal basis, and the clause in our Constitution that says executive members must sign it, goes against their Equal Opportunities policy. I pointed out that if the Student Union constitution was against the doctrinal basis, then effectively it was opposed to Christianity.

“At the moment we are not a ratified society. We can have two more attempts – which will take a month – and then we won’t be recognised by the union. This will mean that we cannot use the union to book rooms, hold events, or even put up posters. As the Constitution stands, there’s no chance of it being ratified by the union. Out of 32 people, only one person voted for it. The climate within Council towards us is hostile, to say the least.”

The university’s other faith-based societies – Jewish, Muslim and Catholic – have all been ratified by Union Council. According to Simeon, the SU have pushed societies into making constitutions extremely short, with no mention of election procedures.

He said: “We felt that a lengthy and explicit constitution offered us protection, and so we did not comply. Therefore, the other religious societies have not had to mention their election procedures, although I strongly suspect that they ensure a leadership of ‘believers’. The move on the part of the union to reduce constitutions to short statements shows that their whole means of ensuring equality within societies is highly dubious. However, because the other faith societies have not been explicit about their desire to ensure a faithful leadership, they have not come under the scrutiny that we have.

“I spoke to the Union administrator, and he told me that it wasn’t an issue of faith, but of democracy. He said all members of the Union are able to join – and lead – any Union society, and that if we could not accept this, then we could withdraw from the Union and practice our beliefs as we wished. He did point out, however, that this would mean a ban on using union premises and resources.

“I asked him about such organisations as the Women’s Group and how they were permitted to restrict membership. He informed me that this was because they were Union committees as opposed to societies and, as such, were subject to special union standing orders, which essentially makes them part of the union’s welfare output. It was suggested to me that this could be a way forward for us, but it would include all faith societies. This interfaith option would not help us to further the Gospel at the university and therefore is not a consideration.”

The CU has been invited to return to another council meeting in two weeks’ time with an amended constitution. But they have already said that excluding the doctrinal basis from their constitution is not an option. The Christian Institute have agreed to take up the CU’s case, saying they believed the Students Union had broken the law.

“We have also spoken to the Students and Young Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, who are consulting a barrister on the issue,” said Simeon Livesey. “We have taken a look at the Union Constitution, which has an elaborate complaints procedure, and we’re going to use that to appeal against the ruling. We’re also going to check things out from a legal perspective with UCCF. We have a strong feeling that Council is breaking the European Convention on Human Rights.”

Tori Wilkinson, president of Hull University’s Students’ Union, said: “The UCCF CU Constitution was brought to the Union Council, and their decision was not to ratify it. The general feeling amongst Union Council was that they were unhappy with the doctrinal basis of the constitution, which all executive members were supposed to sign, and we asked the CU to review their position on that. We’ve never had a situation like this before with any of the University’s faith-based societies.”

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		NEWS EXTRA Uni CU in battle with Students’ Union Hull University’s UCCF Christian Union is considering taking legal action against the University’s Student Union, after its status as a university society was revoked. The Student Union Council voted overwhelmingly to disallow the UCCF CU’s constitution on 26 January, claiming it was “discriminatory”. They objected to the fact that people wishing to become executive members had to sign the CU’s doctrinal basis statement. Simeon Livesey, vice-president of the UCCF CU, said: “According to Council, the doctrinal basis, and the clause in our Constitution that says executive members must sign it, goes against their Equal Opportunities policy. I pointed out that if the Student Union constitution was against the doctrinal basis, then effectively it was opposed to Christianity. “At the moment we are not a ratified society. We can have two more attempts – which will take a month – and then we won’t be recognised by the union. This will mean that we cannot use the union to book rooms, hold events, or even put up posters. As the Constitution stands, there’s no chance of it being ratified by the union. Out of 32 people, only one person voted for it. The climate within Council towards us is hostile, to say the least.” The university’s other faith-based societies – Jewish, Muslim and Catholic – have all been ratified by Union Council. According to Simeon, the SU have pushed societies into making constitutions extremely short, with no mention of election procedures. He said: “We felt that a lengthy and explicit constitution offered us protection, and so we did not comply. Therefore, the other religious societies have not had to mention their election procedures, although I strongly suspect that they ensure a leadership of ‘believers’. The move on the part of the union to reduce constitutions to short statements shows that their whole means of ensuring equality within societies is highly dubious. However, because the other faith societies have not been explicit about their desire to ensure a faithful leadership, they have not come under the scrutiny that we have. “I spoke to the Union administrator, and he told me that it wasn’t an issue of faith, but of democracy. He said all members of the Union are able to join – and lead – any Union society, and that if we could not accept this, then we could withdraw from the Union and practice our beliefs as we wished. He did point out, however, that this would mean a ban on using union premises and resources. “I asked him about such organisations as the Women’s Group and how they were permitted to restrict membership. He informed me that this was because they were Union committees as opposed to societies and, as such, were subject to special union standing orders, which essentially makes them part of the union’s welfare output. It was suggested to me that this could be a way forward for us, but it would include all faith societies. This interfaith option would not help us to further the Gospel at the university and therefore is not a consideration.” The CU has been invited to return to another council meeting in two weeks’ time with an amended constitution. But they have already said that excluding the doctrinal basis from their constitution is not an option. The Christian Institute have agreed to take up the CU’s case, saying they believed the Students Union had broken the law. “We have also spoken to the Students and Young Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, who are consulting a barrister on the issue,” said Simeon Livesey. “We have taken a look at the Union Constitution, which has an elaborate complaints procedure, and we’re going to use that to appeal against the ruling. We’re also going to check things out from a legal perspective with UCCF. We have a strong feeling that Council is breaking the European Convention on Human Rights.” Tori Wilkinson, president of Hull University’s Students’ Union, said: “The UCCF CU Constitution was brought to the Union Council, and their decision was not to ratify it. The general feeling amongst Union Council was that they were unhappy with the doctrinal basis of the constitution, which all executive members were supposed to sign, and we asked the CU to review their position on that. We’ve never had a situation like this before with any of the University’s faith-based societies.” © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.