‘LUSU needs to change before it’s too broken to be fixed’: PTO resigns amidst by-election debate

Following Lancaster Students’ Union’s disqualification of the reopen nominations (RON) vote in last week’s by-election, the incoming Women+ Officer for 2020/21, Erin McNally, has resigned. So far this academic year, four Full-Time Officers and three Part-Time Officers have resigned from their positions at the Students’ Union.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Erin McNally said: “My role as Women+ Officer is something I have put a great amount of work into, and I was very excited to make change. However, there comes a point where you must look at the body you are working under and your own principals and decide whether these align. Today after much thought I have come to the conclusion that they do not.

“I would like to be able to give the Students of Lancaster a full explanation of my decision.

“The student body’s choice to vote RON to me signifies more than just the dissatisfaction with an abstract idea of LUSU; its more than just a protest against the Presidential Candidates, but a vote of no confidence in the entire system. Under this pretence, it seems right and justified that I should step down from my position.

“The way LUSU has dealt with each controversy, beginning way before the proposition to sell the Sugarhouse, right up to the present day has only grown more and more serious in my eyes. When I ask myself whether I am happy to affiliate with this organisation, my answer is no.”

McNally continued that due to these reasons, she could no longer proudly say that she was an officer for the Union, and so with immediate effect, chose to resign from her position.

“Serious action needs to be taken by the students of Lancaster to take back control of their Union. We need solid reassurance that we will have a wholly elected board, amendments made to the constitution, and ultimately a total revamp of the whole Union. Only then would I be able to proudly work under the Union again. I ask that all current and elected PTOs and FTOs take action to fix the union also. Dismantling the Union as much as we can is the only way we can ensure they will have no choice left but to rebuild it.

“I hope that the friends I have made on the Union will not see this as a personal attack. My fellow PTOs are the best I could have asked for and have been amazing to work with, despite it being for such a short amount of time. Equally, I hope that the student population will see the large amount of time and effort I have put into this role in the past month or so and understand that this is not a decision that I have found easy.

“To Oliver: you ran a fantastic campaign, and I do not want you to think that your winning had any effect on my decision. It was not the result of the election that brought me to this decision, but the undemocratic and shady methods that led us to it. And finally, to all women and non-binary students at Lancaster, please know I am sorry to have let you down. I hope to continue to fight, only this time from a grass-roots position.

“LUSU needs to change before it’s too broken to be fixed. Thank You.”

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