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We organise the fight for a Scottish socialist republic on Stirling University campus. We campaign for change in our local area, host educational discussions and take part in a range of activities with other left-wing students.
Whether you’re looking to sink your teeth into socialist organising, or just make new friends who share your worldview, why not come along?
We affiliated with the Scottish Socialist Youth in 2021, however we’d been organising at Stirling Uni for almost three years as an SSP society before this.
In 2018 we coordinated a pro-Palestine demonstration in response to the invitation of an Israeli diplomat to Stirling campus.
In 2019 we were part of the action group who carried out the Cottrell Building occupation in support of striking UCU education workers.
In 2021 we campaigned during the Scottish Elections for Peter Krykant, a local drugs activist. This campaign was to raise awareness of the work Peter was doing in Glasgow to legalise safe consumption clinics and put an end to Scotland’s drug death crisis. Thanks to the work of Peter, and other activists like ourselves, the Scottish Government is now considering this policy. We also marched alongside fellow climate activists in Glasgow for COP26
In 2022 we passed a motion in the Stirling Students Union calling for a Help Not Harm approach to drug use. Stirling Students’ Union is now the first Student Union in Scotland to take a harm reduction approach to drug use, offering free drug test kits to students.
Members of Stirling Uni SSY have been campaigning to change the way people who use drugs are treated by the University of Stirling. We would like to see the university do more to support students, and a crucial change that needs to take place is in the way the university responds to people who may be suffering with drug-related problems.
In recent years, disciplinary action taken against people found using drugs has increased exponentially. We say this is no way to treat people experiencing problem drug-use. Dishing out expensive fines and harmful reprimands can only make the situations of these students worse, not better.
With the backdrop of Scotland’s drug death crisis ongoing, we say now is the time to find solutions which help those in need, not harm them.
Since the start of our campaign, members have raised awareness for the issue by standing in the 2021 Student Union elections as single issue candidates. Each of our candidates won at least 10% of the vote, and heard words of encouragement from various winning candidates.
We have since distributed harm reduction resources on campus, including information booklets and free drug testing kits. In February 2022 we passed a motion at our Students’ Union, committing it to a Help Not Harm approach to drug use.
As a result of our activity, all students at the University Of Stirling can now access free drug test kits at the student union.
In the future, we plan to undertake a variety of activities to advance this campaign further. If you would like to get involved, join our national campaign today!
Stirling Uni SSY members have been campaigning to improve bus services to and from the university as part of our drive for better public services.
We are currently conducting a survey in order to help guide the future of our campaign. If you’d like to support us, complete the survey below!
Stirling Uni SSY members have been planning a campaign to improve accessibility and inclusion for students with disabilities and those requiring support for their mental health.
Keep an eye out for future action taking place on campus.
Stirling Uni SSY members helped to organise the Stirling Climate Festival. Our society also hosted an event on Eco-Socialism, presented by a Marxist ecologist.
The SSY society also led the Scottish Socialist Youth bloc at COP26 in November, alongside the Glasgow workers on strike and calling for eco-socialism before ecocide.
We oppose the creeping interests of capitalism within Scotland’s education system. At our university, we are witnessing the growing influence of corporations at first hand as students, their accommodation and services become more and more commodified each year.
Previously our members have been involved with various groups challenging the pricetag on education such as 9K4WHAT and the UCU. We also organised a panel discussion on university commercialisation in 2021, inviting rent strikers, trade unionists, and industry experts to have their say.
Send us a message and we’ll get in touch shortly!
