JCR Open Meeting 21-06-21

Hi guys,

Here are the minutes from the JCR open meeting on 21st July. There were three key motions being discussed.

Prevent Duty:

The link to vote for this motion is here

The Prevent duty is the responsibility that universities have, as part of the national counterterrorism system, to monitor and report students for signs that they might be at risk of being drawn into terrorism, and primarily for signs of political ‘radicalisation’. This can include notable changes in religious practice, activism or advocacy for viewpoints considered ‘extremist’, or “an undertone of grievance or ‘them and us’ language/behaviour” and not abiding by 'British values'. Prevent has created a culture of surveillance in universities up and down the country and has specifically targeted Muslim and BME students. Varsity found that this had created a wider culture of fear among Muslim students in particular, several of whom told Varsity that they “censored” themselves, felt pressure to “be the good Muslim all the time,” and minimised their visibility in student life to avoid suspicion. PREVENTING PREVENT is a campaign to end the 'chilling effect' of Prevent, by boycotting JCR involvement in the racist legislation, as deemed by Amnesty International and the UN.

Motion can be found at this link. Please have a read and take the time to educate yourselves. https://www.cambridgesu.co.uk/yourvoice/projects/preventingprevent/ Preventing Prevent

This JCR resolves to:

  1. Sign the ‘Preventing Prevent’ Pledge;
  2. Make policy the actions listed in the pledge, including:
    a. Not complying with requests from College to contribute to the submission of Accountability and Data Returns to the Office for Students;
    b. Not participating in College-run Prevent Duty-related training;
    c. Not participating in College-level meetings where Prevent is discussed;
    d. Not risk assessing J/MCR-organised events using Prevent ‘risk registers’;’
    e. Participating in ‘Preventing Prevent’ training delivered by Cambridge SU in collaboration with groups such as Preventing Prevent;
    f. Educating our members about the Prevent Duty and its threats to civil liberties and human rights;
    g. Strengthening support for members who have been impacted by Prevent and its ‘chilling effect.’
    h. Working with Cambridge UCU and Cambridge SU to support Preventing Prevent campaigning.

    PalSoc Open Letter to Toope

    Written by the Cambridge University Palestine Solidarity Society, the letter asks several demands of the university that can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1izky1h7m0ThpY2tLZItn52cNAdiSlv6KdzqEzzqA8es/viewform?edit_requested=true. Again, please educate yourselves and sign the Open Letter as individuals if you want to support it. It has been signed on behalf of Downing JCR Committee.

    Vinyl Racist Incident

    After a recent racist incident at Vinyl nightclub, Cambridge's African Caribbean Society has called for Cambridge students to act in solidarity with the community by not using the venue. This was discussed in the JCR Open Meeting and we will continue to look into the further action that can be taken. As it stands, the following main points were agreed:

    • Investigate with other JCRs and ACS what their next action is going to be (e.g. writing a motion with demands of Vinyl/organised boycott)
    • Educate individuals at Downing about the incident

More info on the incident can be found here: https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2021/06/11/vinyl-club-manager-uses-n-word-in-conversation-with-black-cambridge-student-151537

Posted in News, JCR Newsletters on Jul 02, 2021