Updated Statement Regarding SU Elections 20, 24th March
Tuesday 24-03-2020 - 17:49
Please find below an updated statement regarding the SU Elections 20.
We are pleased to confirm that Edge Hill Students’ Union has been in conversation with the Union of Jewish Students and will be organising antisemitism training as part of our Summer induction programme for new student officers and the wider staff team. We would like to thank the Union of Jewish Students for reaching out to us, and for their help so far in facilitating this training.
Regarding previous disciplinary action, Edge Hill Students’ Union has a full disciplinary process which was followed at the time of the initial incident in question. For confidentiality and HR purposes, we are unable to reveal the outcome of past disciplinary procedures on an employee's file, but the student in question did receive punishment for their behaviour at the time of the original incident.
Due to new information coming to light and new evidence received by the University and the Students’ Union over the past 48 hours, new disciplinary action has also been opened against the SU President-elect as of Tuesday March 24th 2020. The Students’ Union will be fully transparent in cooperating with University counterparts in full should they wish to begin their own investigation, and the Students’ Union itself can confirm that it will be re-examining existing and new evidence as part of a new investigation.
To be clear, the result of the SU Presidency election will be suspended until the result of any disciplinary procedure has been finalised.
We do not underestimate the severity of this situation and the harm that the SU President-elect’s actions have caused. As such, regardless of the outcome of any disciplinary action we will ensure that all student officers are given appropriate training which, as mentioned above, we are already in the process of organising. Should the student in question remain in position, we will ensure that they are made to come to terms with their behaviour and realise what it means to act as a public servant. We will also ensure that the President-elect do all they can through actions, as well as words, to win back the trust of students who have been affected by his actions.
To view the president-elect's full apology and the Union's original statement which provides some context with regard to the situation as a whole, click here.
