So I am considering making a Pirate Club at Western Sydney University and want to ask if anyone would be interested and if I could get any needed authorisation from the Party. I’m normally studying at Penrith (Kingswood) Campus but I’m at Parramatta South Campus (in Rydalmere) over the Summer Session.
Issues:
I’m up to my last year of uni so someone else would need to take the reins from next year onward.
Finding any rules or regulations for clubs is like drawing blood from a stone.
Notes:
The name should probably use the full name of the University, as the abbreviation “WSU” is not allowed and the alternatives are quite awkward.
It appears we need 10 people interested, 6 of which have to be students at the University. (and at least 60% of members have to be Western Sydney University students at all times)
The additional files might be downloadable without logging in, if you want me to put them up elsewhere that isn’t an issue.
Nice! Is WSU known for student politics? If so, I have some Unsolicited Advice:
Beware of affiliation process shenanigans. At my uni, the club affiliation process is controlled by… let’s just say people with an incentive to be petty, and our regulations only state that an affiliation proposal ‘may’ be accepted. A friend of mine claims to have had applications for both a Liberal Democrat club and a ‘minor parties’ club knocked back, despite meeting all the actual requirements.
Also beware of members of other political parties ‘stacking’ the club. I’m pretty sure the Greens club at my uni has had this happen to them (probably in order for Young Labor to maintain full control of the non-Socialist left on campus). This is less of a concern IMHO; the primary purpose of a uni Pirates club is to exist.
I wouldn’t think the uni’s big on student politics, as the only political party club I could find after a quick look through existing clubs was a Liberal club. (No labor/green club…?), and a few other single interest clubs (Animal Liberation, Free Speech (of course only mentioning s. 18C of the RDA) and few others). However, this point comes from a person studying at Penrith/Kingswood (a more STEM oriented campus than most), where AFAIK more political parties form around Bankstown/Milperra (more home to sociology IIRC).
I am aware of the University being mean to some clubs, but AFAIK those clubs relatively right wing so we should be good.
Your second point could be more of a concern because if I’m right about my first point a Pirate Club would be the only left-wing party club at the university, thus stacking from laborites/greens could be a concern.
