| Institution: | Goldsmiths, University of London |
| Goldsmiths Students' Union (GSU) | |
| Location: | London, |
| Affiliated: | National Union of Students of the United Kingdom |
| Homepage: | www.goldsmithssu.org |
The Goldsmiths Students' Union (GSU) is the union of student representatives from the Goldsmiths University of London, a British higher education institution in New Cross, London. It is a registered charity independent of the university which advocates for students in academic, social, and welfare dimensions. The GSU is also responsible for organizing social events, workshops, and lobbying for improvement to campus facilities.[1] [2]
Elected officers run the GSU. Elections typically occur in the spring when students vote for their representatives. Officer positions include four full-time remunerated, and fourteen part-time positions. The elections are independently verified by a returning officer from the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.[3]
Each year the GSU publishes its Annual Impact Report which outlines the organization's work, campaigns, and achievements. The document is designed in-house, presented to the college management board, then made available to students.[4]
In October 2014, the GSU faced criticism in the student newspaper The Tab after voting down a proposal to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day and Armenian Genocide Day. Goldsmiths' student Colin Cortbus, who initially proposed the commemoration, co-authored The Tab article.[5] Goldsmiths' Education Officer Sarah El-afy described the initial statement as "Eurocentric" and "pro-British-colonialist" due to its exclusion of genocides and wars Britain has perpetrated. According to the union, El-afy offered to help put forward a redrafted version of the motion for the next Student Assembly meeting to include genocides affecting people outside of Europe. The union issued a statement claiming that "redrafting motions and re-entering them at a later date isn’t unusual in students’ unions and shouldn’t be misinterpreted as opposition".[6]
In May 2015, the Union's Welfare and Diversity Officer, Bahar Mustafa, sparked a public outcry when both white and male students, were discouraged from attending a student union event on diversity intended for black, minority, and ethnic women.[7] [8] Mustafa was accused of racism and sexism, which she denied due to "racism and sexism [describing] structures of privilege based on race and gender".[9] A group of students petitioned for a vote of no confidence in Mustafa, but the petition was signed by less than 3% of the student body and therefore failed to trigger a referendum.[10]
In May 2022, David Hirsh, a senior sociology lecturer at Goldsmiths criticized the National Union of Students (NUS) "decolonize education" campaign claiming it had antisemitic nuances, to which the then-president of GSU Sara Bafo tweeted "D*vid H*rsh is a far white supremacist."[11] Bafo received heavy backlash from the outgoing president of NUS Larissa Kennedy, who labelled the decision to launch an investigation into the tweets, claiming it was "anti-racist work", but remained strongly supported by the GSU. After an online dispute, Bafo was pressured to step down. In response, the Goldsmiths University and College Union (GUCU) delivered a supportive message, criticizing the disproportionate and hostile way in which Black Muslim female student activists and leaders were targeted and the way in which Goldsmiths Senior Management was pressuring for an investigation into Bafo.