DCU’s Clubs and Societies office think their University of Limerick counterparts were too subjective in rejecting a pro-life society from setting up there recently and have said the setting up of a similar group could be approved here.
Manager of DCU’s Office of Student Life, Una Redmond said any club or society can be established on campus as long as it meets the Society Life Committee’s criteria.
“It seems like a judgement call… we couldn’t just decide unilaterally we didn’t want [the society] if it fulfilled our criteria,” Redmond told the College View.
She went onto describe the DCU criteria for the setting up of clubs and societies as “less subjective, it’s more objective”.
The comments come as UL’s Pro-life Society Chairperson Manuel Kuh appeals a vote rejecting his society from becoming officially recognised by the university.
He feels this rejection might be because of the delicate issue the society focusses on.
A recent vote saw UL’s Clubs & Socs Council reject the setting up of a society for the first time, with 22 votes against Kuh’s group to 21 for it.
DCU Chaplain Sr Susan Jones said the Inter-Faith Centre which she represents would “probably back a pro-life society” as it would be line with religious teachings.
However, she noted “as DCU staff, it’s not up to us to propose societies; they have to come from students”.
Sr Jones added that she didn’t know whether DCU needed such societies and that the inter-faith centre provides students with a place to discuss their beliefs on issues including abortion, homosexuality and other topics at roundtable talks.
“Some people just sit around the table to listen, and sometimes they like to engage. We have non-believers, Muslims and Christians… It’s just a place for people to discuss the idea, there’s no conclusion,” she explained.
Under Society Life Committee (SLC) rules, clubs and societies are entitled to set up if they have indiscriminate aims, a constitution and a minimum number of students in the group.
Although Redmond said the SLC reject some groups from registering, they only do so after following guidelines set out in the constitution.
Mark Hogan
Image Credit: Annemarie Kelly
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