“No Confidence” In Sam Rae

Outraged students are calling for the resignation of education officer Sam Rae.

A member of SheffMUN has published a petition on the student voice webpage after the education officer was involved in the protests at the MUN opening ceremony last Friday.

Matt Brown, the petition’s creator, called on students to “mark their vote of no confidence in our Education Officer and to support a referendum to remove him from office”. SheffMUN told The Tab: “We would like to inform you that Matt Brown is not a member of the SheffMUN Committee, and that we have not started or endorsed the petition.

The SheffMUN conference was “tinged” by Rae’s actions

The outrage was sparked by Rae’s personal involvement in a student protest against the Israeli Ambassador’s attendance of the conference. The diplomat had been invited to speak to students at the opening ceremony at Firth Court as part of a celebration of “student participation and cultural dialogue.” The protesters felt that the ambassador should be denied the right to speak because of an SU policy supporting Palestinians in Gaza.

After finding out about the arrangements Rae, along with other protesters, managed to sneak past security guards and into the building.

Although most were stopped here, Rae and 3 others managed to make it onto centre stage, allowing them to interrupt the ceremony and the Ambassador, and give their own speech in support of the Palestinian cause. The four protesters, having achieved their goal, left the building of their own accord.

Pro-Palestinian protestors attempted to enter the conference on Friday (youtube)

Brown said he did not want to turn the petition into a political debate about the SU “but highlight the deeply embarrassing nature of his actions in front of esteemed guests, politicians and ambassadors.”

So far, there are just 63 votes for the petition, versus 314 against. However, MUNer Brown doesn’t think this is the point. “if we can ensure that Union officers are reminded of their responsibility, not just to enact a manifesto pledge in whatever fashion they so wish, but to act in all of their duties with the professionalism that their £17,000 salary demands, then I will consider the campaign a success.”

Education Officer Sam Rae acted “unprofessionally”

The petition has divided students, which is now home to an ongoing debate between those for and against, the Union’s political stance and the integrity of the union itself.

History and Philosophy student Josh Berlyne thinks that the petition is more embarrassing than Rae’s actions. “The Model UN potentially violated Union policy by inviting an Israeli representative to speak. For them to then try to oust an officer for keeping in line with this (democratically elected, may I add) policy is simply absurd.”

On the other hand, many students reckon that the officer’s management of the situation was unprofessional and irresponsible. MUN delegate and student Thamid Chowdhury said “I found it ironic that the actions of our Education Officer, and others actually was attempting to disrupt myself and others to learn about the education system in Israel.”