Last Monday was the OUSA Annual General Meeting and, contrary to the expectations of most, it actually went ahead. AGMs need 0.5% of the student body to show up to go ahead (called quorum) and the final head count was 106 - a whole one member over the bare minimum! Hosting the meeting during Auahi Ora’s happy hour of $5 pints may prove to have been the wisest decision the exec has made thus far in their careers.
OUSA President Quintin began the meeting with a jovial “we made quorum, hurray!” followed by whoops and cheers (mainly by a relieved student exec and Critic sitting at the front).
OUSA’s bona fide finance bro Mukesh told us that while the organisation is in a $2 million deficit at the end of the last financial year (“that’s cute” says the Uni) this was mainly due to the earthquake strengthening costs that students would reap the benefits of soon enough. It was a difficult two years, he said, due to Covid cancelling a lot of OUSA’s events like Ori. But it ended on a positive note: “We broke even!”
There were a few motions put forward by students - all of which had to be saved for a later date since they didn’t submit them in time for the meeting to be voted on. So it was soft student politics, but student politics nonetheless.
UniQ student exec reps James and Samantha spoke on behalf of the club. They had three main asks: that there be a designated queer student rep on the OUSA exec (which there apparently was until 2015), there be a greater push for gender neutral bathrooms (of which there is currently just one in the entire Link and Central Lib building), and that the currently “poorly managed” queer space be given more attention. They said that they’re both burnt out from constantly advocating for all of the queer students on campus and that “all queer students deserve a voice and that’s what we’re hoping will be achieved through today.”
OUSA’s Postgrad rep Keegan put forward a motion for postgrads to get “a sticker or something” allowing them to cut to the front of pint night line, “or all lines, while we’re at it.” Her arguments for the motion were that postgrads have “less time” to stand around in line and that there is such a small number a) who go to pint night, and b) in comparison to undergrads that it wouldn’t be too much of a bother to the younger crowd.
Rowing club member Gabby also took the stage to critique the social media presence of OUSA, saying that it’s “kind of stupid” that none of her peers knew about the AGM happening. Maybe they should read parts of Critic Te Ārohi other than the horoscopes? Gabby charitably offered to take over the organisation’s social media in the event that it wasn’t “controlled by the marketing department” and in exchange for Redbull. Hey, that’s how we’re paid, too!