On Thursday 12 February, 35 Hallam SU student members attended an additional Members' Meeting to discuss and vote on the following beliefs:
Palestine Solidarity: "HSU should proudly stand in solidarity with Palestine; publicly recognising Palestine as an independent state and expressing solidarity with those affected by the conflict in Palestine."
Palestinian Student Support: "HSU should actively support our Palestinian students and give them official Liberation group status, with all the protections, resources and support that affords."
The results
In accordance with our Bye-Laws, the additional Members' Meeting was quorate (30 student attendees) and three votes were held.
Each vote was decided by a simple majority (i.e. if there are more 'yes' votes than 'no' votes cast by members present at the meeting, the item will pass).
Should Hallam SU adopt the 'Palestine Solidarity' belief?
Vote Count: 35
Outcome: Yes (passed)
With majority 'yes' votes, this belief will be resolved as a 'student voice conclusion'. This means the outcome of the vote will be shared, but no further action will be taken as it sits outside of our charitable objects. Learn more about student voice conclusions.
Should Hallam SU adopt the 'Palestinian Student Support' belief?
Vote Count: 35
Outcome: Yes (passed)
Should Hallam SU make the 'Palestinian Student Support' belief an 'HSU priority' for the 2025/26 academic year?
Vote Count: 31
- Yes: 12
- No: 19
- Abstain: 1
Outcome: No (not passed)
What happens next?
- The 'Palestine Solidarity' belief will be resolved as a 'student voice conclusion'; no further action will be taken as it sits outside of our charitable objects.
- The 'Palestinian Student Support' belief will be adopted as a HSU belief.
- As the 'Palestinian Student Support' belief was not voted to become a HSU priority, no further changes will be made to the six pre-existing HSU priorities.
You can view all current beliefs and priorities online.
Minutes from the Members' Meeting are being reviewed and will be included in this article shortly. These beliefs and associated actions will need to be ratified at the next HSU Trustee Board. Any changes as a result of this will be updated on this article.
FAQs
What is a student voice conclusion?
A student voice conclusion is where Hallam students have shared a view on a topic outside of its charitable objects, and that outcome is shared with the student body and University.
Student voice conclusions can be about most topics or political issues, so long as it does not contain hate speech, discriminates or is libelous.
However, as charities such as HSU can only act on activities within their charitable objects, this limits what activity HSU can do around a corporate/student voice conclusion. This means we may have a student voice conclusion on something but cannot act on activities associated with that opinion.
What do we mean by charitable objects?
Our charitable objects are the main aims and purpose of our charity (HSU).
What are our charitable objects?
We are a democratic members union for Sheffield Hallam University; our charitable objects are to support our members: Hallam Students.
They are written in our articles of association (our governing document) as follows:
“The advancement of education of Students at Sheffield Hallam University for the public benefit:
- by promoting the interests and welfare of Students at Sheffield Hallam University during their course of study and representing, supporting and advising Students.
- being the recognised representative channel between Students and Sheffield Hallam University and any other external bodies
- providing social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities and forums for discussions and debate for the personal development of its students.”
Why do charitable objects impact what HSU can do?
Legally, we can only spend our resources (money, staff time etc) on activity that furthers our charitable objects.
Because our charitable objects are about Hallam students, it means we can only put resources towards things that impact specifically “Hallam students as Hallam students”.
This means that it must impact Hallam students in their specific context. Some examples of what we mean:
- We couldn’t campaign for students in Warwick about Warwick bus fares, as whilst it does impact students, it doesn’t impact students studying at Hallam.
- But, we could campaign around cheaper student bus fares across the South Yorkshire region, as that includes Hallam students, and we know from feedback gathering that it’s an issue.
- We can’t campaign on better pay for NHS nurses, because whilst we have student nurses at Hallam, their pay only impacts them after they’ve left, when they are no longer students at Hallam.
When it comes to international affairs and worldwide issues, such as climate change or conflicts, deciding if it sits within our charitable objects must be made on a case-by-case basis and dependent on the asks of the belief.
The key thing is: “does this impact the student experience at Hallam?”.
Charities such as HSU aren’t allowed to use resources for things outside of their charitable objects, but they are allowed to articulate a view which is expressed by their membership on any topic (via a vote). That is called a corporate conclusion, or in Students’ Unions a student voice conclusion.