University of Sydney Union

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

University of Sydney Union

Established	1874
Institution	University of Sydney
Location	Sydney, Australia
Affiliated to	The University of Sydney
Homepage	www.usuonline.com

The University of Sydney Union (USU), sometimes referred to as The Union, is the student-run services and amenities provider at the University of Sydney. The Union's key activities include the services such as providing food and beverages, live music and other entertainment, O-Week and clubs and societies.

The University of Sydney Union provides student services and amenities and supports the university's strong debating, dramatic, and cultural traditions, through over 200 clubs and societies. Unofficially, the University of Sydney ranks first in the world in debating ahead of Oxford and Cambridge[2]. They are the 2007 World Debating Champions and 2008 Australasian Debating Champions, and in recent years have comprehensively dominated the finals of the Australian and Australasian Championships. Former debaters include the former Prime Minister John Howard, Justice Michael Kirby and members of the Chaser crew.

USU also boasts some of the oldest political clubs in the country. The Labor Club is the oldest political campus club in Australia and Sydney University Liberal Club was established in 1933 ^[1] well before the Liberal Party of Australia.

History

The Sydney University Union (SUU) was established in 1874 for debating, at a time when the University had fewer than a hundred students; graduates and staff were thus dominant. In 1884, the University's Senate provided a common room for the union, and in 1906, it decided to provide a building for the union's use. This building is now known as the Holme Building, named after the first president following the organisation's reconstitution in 1911, Assistant Professor E.R. Holme; the building, although not completed until 1916, was occupied in 1912, with extensions made in 1924, 1935, 1954 and 1957.

A separate Sydney University Women's Union (SUWU) was formed in 1914. The Senate also agreed to fund a building for the Women's Union; Manning House was opened in 1917. It was at this time that the university made membership of the unions compulsory.

Until the 1970s, the unions were a significant meeting place for both staff and students; however, with the establishment of a staff club and the growth in size of the university population, the influence of staff decreased. The decision to amalgamate the two unions came after the decision in 1971 to jointly fund the Wentworth Building, named after William Wentworth, one of the leading figures in the then-colony instrumental in the creation of the university. The two union's amalgamated on 1 January 1972 to form the University of Sydney Union (USU).

Stage 1 of the Wentworth building, with its upper entrance at one end of the pedestrian footbridge across City Road, was opened in 1972; Stage 2, comprising the portion of the building at the corner of Butlin Avenue and City Road, was not completed until 1989.

Manning House was extensively refurbished and extended in 2001. Currently, union administration is located in the Holme Building, while the majority of member services are delivered in Manning House.

The USU today

The USU now operates three buildings, Manning House, and the Wentworth and Holme Buildings. These buildings house the large proportion of the university's catering outlets, and provide space for game rooms, bars and function centres. One of the more prominent activities organised by the union is the Orientation Week (or "O-week"), centering on stalls set up by clubs and societies on the lawns in front of the Main Quadrangle. The clubs and societies programme is a key part of the union's activities, with over two hundred clubs to cater for the university's diverse student population. The union also has an extensive art collection, and until recently, it maintained the Sir Hermann Black Gallery. In July 2009, the Verge Gallery opened in the Jane Foss Russell Plaza as a new student art space on main campus. To serve the students at the university's other campuses, the union has branches at other faculties and colleges away from the main site, and has programmes specifically for these affiliated sites.

Today, the union is operated as a business, with a board of directors elected by the students at the university. Consisting of 14 members, the board is composed of:

• 11 directors elected for overlapping two year terms by members of the union, with 5 elected in even-numbered years and 6 elected in odd-numbered years;
• 2 directors appointed by the University of Sydney Senate; and
• The immediate past president, who is non-voting.

Student media

Sydney University Radio Group stall at Orientation Week

The magazine Hermes was first published in 1886, and the Union Recorder was first published in 1921. At least in recent years, the Recorder has been a monthly publication; however, due to rationalisation in the face of VSU, it was announced in the November 2005 issue that it would become an annual publication as of 2006^[update], with The Bull taking its place as the primary repository of student content.

For one month during each semester, USUFM broadcasts from a studio on campus on the 90.9FM frequency. The union is issued a Temporary Community Broadcast License which allows them to broadcast at full power to most of metropolitan Sydney. The USUFM license is administered by the Sydney University Radio Group (SURG), which is funded through the Clubs and Societies programme. Like The Bull, USUFM is wholly staffed and operated by University of Sydney students. All content is provided by students and members of SURG^[2]

Presidents & Office Bearers

Notable past Presidents of the University of Sydney Union include:

• Edmund Barton (1884–1885), Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia.
• H.V. Evatt (1916–1917), Australian jurist, politician and writer.
• Michael Kirby (1964–1965) ^[3], former Justice of the High Court of Australia.
• Anna Donald (1987-88), pioneer in the field of evidence-based medicine.
• Adam Spencer (1991-1992), radio presenter and media personality.

Notable past Directors of the University of Sydney Union include:

• Malcolm Turnbull, politician, the current Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament.

Executives since amalgamation (1972)

Source: Janet Wilkie, "Amalgamated, But The Same", 1996.

References

• USU 2004 Annual Report Summary
• Williams, Bruce. Liberal education and useful knowledge: a brief history of the University of Sydney, 1850-2000, Chancellor's Committee, University of Sydney, 2002. ISBN 1-86487-439-2
• Wilkie, Janet. "Amalgamated, But The Same: a brief history of the first 25 years of the University of Sydney Union 1972-1996", The University of Sydney Union, 1996.

Footnotes

1. ^ [1],
2. ^ About the Sydney University Radio Group
3. ^ The Honourable Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG

See also

• University of Sydney Students' Representative Council

External links

• University of Sydney Union website
• O-Week
• Manning Bar
• Hermann's Bar
• Verge Arts Festival
• Access Benefits Program
• Sydney University Radio Group