Last week, a petition was handed to me from Executive member Robert Latimer, with the signatures of ten students, calling for the resignation of VUWSA President Jasmine Freemantle.
Now, for the sake of context: some may argue this, but I’m not some big VUWSA hack. 14 months ago I didn’t even know what VUWSA was. I got involved in student politics when my Film major was threatened last year. I was then exposed to a students’ association that was run by this bearded guy who did next to no work (though to be fair, he had good intentions, and is essentially a nice man—he just should have never been president).
I realized that my money was going towards this, and believed that I could help fix it (after all, after last year, Executive members that were at least half way literate was a huge improvement). What people don’t seem to realize is that it’s not logical to run for the students’ association executive for fame and power. Hah! People automatically hate you, are cynical about your motives, jump to assumptions about your beliefs and call you names—which is fine, it comes with the territory. This is something you must accept when you are elected.
Jasmine Freemantle is just the same as me. She is just a student who saw a bunch of muppets running VUWSA and volunteered herself, someone halfway decent, to replace them. That’s what she, and we as the President and Vice Presidents, are trying to do. We are trying to fix VUWSA up. We’re playing by the book. All we want to do is put our heads down and get on with it. These petty politics may be fun to read about I guess, but what I’m sure students really want is a really efficient students’ association that doesn’t waste their money each year, that takes their responsibilities as representatives seriously, and, most of all, does the job they are elected to do.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that, without tooting our own horn too much, we are comparatively one of the most committed, hardworking and competent executives VUWSA has had in a very long time. A lot of that has to do with the leadership of Jasmine Freemantle. In effect, it would be a waste of your money to roll her. It’s a waste of time and money as it is. But as it stands, your students’ association is the healthiest it has ever been, under the guidance of Jasmine Freemantle.
It’s pathetic, childish games like this rolling business that has plagued student politics and made it a joke in former years. Let us get on with our work, what we’re meant to be doing—serving students. Come along to the Special General Meeting (stay tuned—the date isn’t set yet) and vote against this ridiculous motion.