Fees Rally - Feb 21st 2008.
Campaign to Defeat Fees
The Campaign to Defeat Fees (CDF) is a national campaign which has been organised by Socialist Students and last year was very successful in organising large-scale campaigns in campuses across the country. This year the CDF is back in full force and there will be a demo in Cambridge on the 21st of February.
The organisers hope this to be a rally which brings together students from different institutions in and around Cambridge including Anglia Ruskin Students' Union [ARSU], CUSU, the Trade Council and local VIth form colleges.
As CUSU will be reviewing its policy on fees in Fees Week (week 7), it is unlikely that CUSU will be sending a representative to the demo officially. However, I am encouraging campaigners for free education to work within their colleges in order to support this demo.
Below is an example of a motion that I am bringing to King's College Students' Union (the King's JCR) in order to gain support for the demo and raise awareness within my college community.
KCSU Notes
1. The Campaign to Defeat Fees is organising a national day of action against top up fees on 21 February.
2. Previous days of action, in February and April last year, involved hundreds of students in over 50 universities, colleges and schools across the country. A number of student unions supported the action, and the NUS leadership was pressured into giving support on its website.
3. That there will be a CDF protest in Cambridge on February 21st outside the East Road campus of Anglia Ruskin University.
4. That the Cambridge organisers are co-ordinating a campaign across institutions, involving local sixth formers, the Trades Council and Anglia Ruskin Students Union.
KCSU Believes
1. That tuition fees are detrimental to the education and welfare of the members of KCSU.
2. That NUS, which has the resources and potential to build a lasting and effective campaign, has failed to do so.
3. That groups such as Education Not for Sale and the CDF are providing an opportunity for KCSU to make a vocal and visible campaign against fees.
KCSU Resolves
1. To send a representative to the protest outside ARU on February 21st as part of the Campaign to Defeat Fees.
Proposed: Richard Braude, CUSU HE Funding Officer.
Seconded: Ria Hylton, Undergraduate.