Headlines are essentially reading “Jönköping University’s Kick Off is Cancelled” and it’s all anyone can talk about. If you haven’t heard by now, an extremely big decision was made public last week Monday, one that left a mess of emotions on and around campus. With everything going on, tensions have been high and everyone has questions. I had the opportunity to sit down with Julia de Geus, president of Jönköping Student Union (JSU), to get answers.
Is Kick Off Canceled?
The short answer is no! Julia confirms, “KickOff is NOT canceled.” Instead, some aspects of the event are being restructured. She explains:
“What’s currently going on is that the Student Union, together with the university, has identified a series of events which led us to make a decision about a couple of activities that we need to restructure. Right now, a lot of students are upset, which is understandable, and that’s mainly due to a lack of information.”
In the two separate statements released by Julia last week we learnt exactly this, that the student union and the university itself had been made aware of issues that have been going on on campus. By this point you could be thinking about rumours you’ve heard about similar situations and may be wondering why action is only being taken now. According to Julia, the Student Union has been aware of these situations and for a while now and have been working behind the scenes through a series of conversations and workshops in an attempt to remedy them. After not seeing enough improvement, the decision to restructure Kick Off as a whole was born.
What Does “Restructuring” Mean?
What is Kick Off going to look like moving forward? Upon emphasising that neither Kick Off, Akademien or any of our beloved student activities are going to disappear, Julia goes on to explain that a few activities will merely be restructured which means essentially “that the current way of organizing will be slightly adapted in order to basically create safer and better future events.” This includes the fact that instead of Kick Off being run by the different sexmasteries it will be taken over by a pending separate Kick Off committee. Julia describes how they have done and are currently doing a lot of benchmarking from different universities and have been actively working on figuring out how to best make this transition. She stresses the fact that the goal is “to stay close to the Kick Off that we know, but obviously adapt the parts that we feel have not maybe been working. But we can also acknowledge that the Kick Off has been a really good event and it has had a lot of positive impact as well”.
What About Integrity and Tradition?
For many, Kick Off is a huge part of why they chose JU. Jönköping University having one of the most renowned Kick Off weeks in all of Sweden and possibly Europe as a whole. In response to this Julia reminds us that although there has been confusion about who is in charge of Kick Off, it has and will continue to be the project leader at JSU who has this responsibility implying that the integrity of the event we all know and love will be protected. The activities that are carried out during kickoff that have previously however been delegated to the sexmasteries will now be delegated to the aforementioned newly formed project groups. Julia states that “for us one of the most important things, that we keep the parts that are working well and that we protect the student life in all kinds of ways”. But will the sexmasteries still play a part in Kick Off? Julia explains that although the sexmasteries as a group are no longer delegated to organise Kick Off anymore, all individuals have an opportunity to apply for and join the new Kick Off committee. Unfortunately, as this is all still very new and very fresh, details on what Kick Off will look like in terms of specific activities and events cannot be disclosed at this time to leave room for the creativity of the new committee.
What About Democracy?
So now that we understand the decision and what it means, there have been a lot of concerns about the active making of it. Why was this not a democratic decision? Why did the student body not get the chance to have a say? Simply put, this decision was a show of what’s called representative democracy. Julia reminds us that during the annual meeting the members of JSU are chosen democratically, giving them the responsibility over handling situations like this. They have been given authority by order of delegation to make decisions such as this one. Adding to this, Julia says
“It’s also very important for me to emphasize that for us, we have been given the trust during the annual meeting to voice the students’ opinions and voice the students’ perspective. And that for us will always be the most important thing to do. But I think it’s also important to remember that this includes sometimes making very hard decisions in very difficult situations. And therefore, for us, it’s extremely important that we still remain to have the students’ support and confidence throughout this whole matter, because we are not benefiting from this ourselves, like as people. And I also think it’s important to stress that, of course, I understand the questions about the annual meeting and people wanting to voice their opinions and voice what they have experienced or they feel like. But I think it’s also very hard to make people vote for something if they don’t have access to all the facts and information, which we are also not allowed to give out. So I feel like then it’s very hard to make a balanced decision based on that or based on knowing half of the facts”.
And unfortunately the fact of the matter is we will never know the details of the situation/situations that led to the making of this decision because that would go against the confidentiality of the person/people who brought them up.
Ultimately, the student body’s well-being and safety as a whole is being put first. The goal of this restructuring is to ensure that our safety and well-being are being protected in all forms. With this in mind, Julia adds “I cannot sit here and say that everything will be perfect going forward. But at least I can say that we strive to do the best we can in order to contribute to this situation”. JSU wants to be held accountable, which is why there are different evaluations sent out throughout the year that they work with constantly, which is why it’s so important for us as the student body to make our voices heard in order to get the most out of every situation we find ourselves in, including this one.
What About Aka?
And now I know it’s not Wednesday yet, but another big concern was everyone’s favourite place – Akademien. Don’t panic guys, no one is taking Aka away from us. Julia explains that throughout this last week, she has had conversations with the different sexmasteries and listened to their questions and concerns, a common and long-standing one being, their obligation to work at Aka. A lot of people found that being delegated to work at Aka regardless of their own workloads has taken a toll on them, and this is why the Aka crew will no longer be made up of just sexmastery members, instead is opening up recruitment to the general JU population. Aka will also still be an open space for different groups and associations to hold events that contribute to our energetic student life. When it comes to the sexmasteries, Julia ensures that they are currently in dialogue with their respective student associations about other ways they can add value to the school. Emphasizing that the decision is purely theirs and should stem from what they get positive energy from.
If you’ve made it this far, gold star. I hope this has given you some insight into the situation and has been able to answer a few of the many questions I’m sure you have. The biggest takeaway from this is that at its’ core, JSU and Jönköping University as a whole are working diligently to prioritise and ensure student safety and well-being. Your curiosity is both appreciated and extremely necessary. Keep asking questions and keep making your voices heard so we can keep our university an institution we can all be proud to be a part of.
Writer: Loreleigh Mostert
