| Institution | University of Kent |
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| Location | Senate Chamber, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NZ |
| Website | http://www.kentunion.co.uk |
The University of Kent Students' Union, officially known as Kent Union, is the student representative body for students at the University of Kent, England. Based around five elected full time officers (the 'sabbatical team'), a Board of trustees, part-time student officers as well as 'lay' members of the local community and business selected for their specialist expertise. Kent Union has an influence at all levels of the University.
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The Venue the student-only 1500 capacity nightclub operated by Kent Union opened in 1998 [1], consisting of three floors and five bars, making it the biggest nightclub in the city. The top floor, with a panoramic full frontal glass window overlooking the campus, is known as 'The Attic'. In recent years the Attic has seen a daytime coffee outlet, branded as 'Wicked Coffee' (one of three Wicked Coffee franchises run by Kent Union on the Canterbury campus), and a fast food outlet open all day and night known as The Kitchen. The middle or ground floor is known as 'The Balcony', due to the fact it is a mezzanine floor overlooking the main lower ground floor of the building, known as 'The Venue'. This comprises a stage, a dance floor as well as a main drinks bar as well as a popular shots bar. This floor has seen several major refurbishments over the years, but in its present incarnation it is characterised by clean lines, simple colours and a sophisticated feel. The Venue has hosted many DJs, bands and events over the years including Pendulum, Zane Lowe, B*witched, Judge Jules, Tim Westwood, Bodger and Badger, several members of the cast of Skins and many MOS tours.
The Kent Union Licensed Trade Department was the national winner in the 2007 and 2008 Best Bar None awards run by NUS Services Limited, after two years as runner up. The Best Bar None award recognises good practice and procedures with regard to all aspects of student safety, campaigns on responsible drinking and drink spiking, relations with the non-student community, staff training as well as a whole other variety of additional best practice in the licensed trade industry.
The bar within Rutherford college is also run by Kent Union. The bar is open till 11pm Monday to Saturday. It offers food and drink including cocktails and pizza which they have become famous around campus for.
Woodies is a Kent Union run bar in the heart of the on-campus student village known as Parkwood. It is generally known as being the main Sports Bar on campus, showing most major live sport, and is popular with the main sports societies, particularly Wednesday afternoons and evenings. It is also regarded as the cheapest bar on campus. These have combined to gain it almost cult status with students and alumni alike, but years of underinvestment have made it look tired and uncompetitive with other on- and off-campus establishments. This changed in the Summer of 2007 with a complete gutting and refit which has re-branded Woody's aesthetically as a more traditional pub, with food and entertainment offerings in keeping with this.
In the early eighties the student union had a strong reputation for live music with a band playing on campus most weeks, a notable example being when U2 played Rutherford JCR the week their debut album Boy was released. Admission was 50p and all 150 tickets sold in advance. Other bands who played in the early eighties included Howard Jones, Level 42, Teardrop Explodes, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Joboxers, Echo & the Bunnymen, Greg Lake and Elvis Costello.
A popular annual event run by the Keynes College Committee is the Keynestock Festival, a battle of the bands held in the garden behind Keynes College, which was once headlined by Billy Bragg. There is also another annual festival ArtsFest every June between Rutherford and Eliot colleges that is very well attended.
Every year the Union hold a special Summer ball with live music from popular artists. Past live performances have included Florence & the Machine, Feeder and The Wombats.
Kent Union is also nationally recognised by the high standards of free or heavily discounted services it provides, facilitates or helps organise for its student members such as sports societies, interest societies, campaigns, representation, an employment agency (JobShop), an advice centre, RAG, an FM radio station CSR 97.4 FM a joint project between Kent and ChristChurch, volunteering and a dedicated student newspaper, Inquire.
In early March 1970 the University of Kent at Canterbury Students' Union voted in a General Meeting to occupy the Cornwallis Building as part of a national student movement to open personal records to individual student scrutiny.[2] The occupation lasted about two weeks, with a majority vote ending the occupation on March 18th. Approximately 400 students marched out of the Cornwallis Building to present a set of demands that were handed by Union President David Lawrence to the University Registrar Mr Eric Fox. The demands had been drawn up and debated by groups of up to 300 students at a time in meetings and seminars held throughout the occupation.[3]
At one time (ca. 1974) nationally notorious for its extreme left-wing politics , leading to demands for law changes from staff trade unionists,[4] Kent Union has changed significantly in recent years, shifting their focus away from campaigning and towards running commercial services. In 1998 a substantial construction programme was completed that included a successful multi-purpose shop (Essentials) and a 1500 capacity nightclub known as "The Venue",[5] this was in addition to the bar operated in the on-campus student village, known as "Woody's", which opened in 1994.[5] This expansion was a massive undertaking for Kent Union, but was poorly planned and prepared for so although the services were popular with members, it put Kent Union under significant financial pressure.
In 2010, ahead of a parliamentary vote on issues concerning raising tuition fees, the Union took part in the national demonstrations. The union heavily subsidised the transport for students to get to London.
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