Image from: https://lsu.co.uk/annualreports
Loughborough Students’ Union is struggling with backlash after they announced ‘The Men’s Project’ earlier this week, a male-focused student initiative starting in September.
The student communities Instagram, @lsucommunities, posted about this initiative, inviting people to be involved through promoting their new project officer roles. These roles include a project officer of events, media & comms and inclusivity.
The post explains the purpose of the initiative, stating it is aimed to “help men achieve their full potential, by curating resources and cultivating environments that focus on our three key themes: the individual, the collective and the idea.” The post also goes on to explain each theme, saying “the individual theme is about supporting each individual man in overcoming his struggles and achieving his goals, the collective theme explores broader men’s issues, and the idea theme explores the concept of masculinity itself.” Furthermore, the bottom of this slide also implies this initiative could transform into a bigger project, saying; “if successful, the project will evolve into an official Men’s Network.” Suggesting this initiative may be a trial to engage interest, and if proves popular, the Men’s Project may turn into an association like the Women’s Network.
However, this post has gained attention due to its controversy. Currently sitting at over a hundred comments yet only twelve likes, it appears students have not reacted positively to the news.
One of the most popular comments, receiving over fifty likes, is from a former student stating their disappointment in the LSU.
As someone who shut this idea down as EO in 2022, and as many of my peers have said, this is hugely disappointing from LSU and opens the floodgate for SO much “what about”ism within the SU. There are already many structures and positions within the W&D section and beyond that facilitate spaces for men to get involved. I hope you actually listen to your community instead of constantly ignoring and deleting the slightest bit of criticism you get. If you say you champion EDI, actually do so. Shame on you for facilitating this, the female/female-presenting/enby/ally LSU volunteers deserve so much better than this.
This comment seems to reflect the general criticism made by others, with many students worried about the negative platform this may give men, as well as commenting on the repeated phase of the post; “take space, make space.”
The slogan “take space, make space” raises questions about the intention behind this project, considering the existing networks with the Welfare and Diversity section. While it may be intended to encourage men to engage more actively in discussions about their well-being challenges, it could also be seen as implying that men need to take space from existing initiatives.
Loughborough Students’ Union is yet to make a comment, however it is to be noted that link to the applications for a brief time was not working, before appearing back again. It is unknown whether this was a technical error or if the applications were shut down temporarily.
This is not the first time the LSU has been the subject of backlash, with earlier outrage over the University’s response to the Palestine and Israel conflict. More recently, the LSU has been under scrutiny following their statement of support & solidarity, created to share their support for those affected by the violent riots across the UK. The post condemns the acts of violence as well as stating “nobody should be made to feel unsafe in this country because of their race, faith or migration status.” However, several comments on this post expressed their disappointment. “I would like to know why this post doesn’t condemn Islamophobia?” One student commented, with a reply from the @lsuexec account, which is ran by the student executive officers, saying “the violence has extended to all people of colour, marginalised faiths and migrants. Because of this, the LSU chose not to specify Islamophobia.”
Ultimately, it seems the Student’s Union is disappointing students, with a push for a change in decision-making prominent in student’s comments. It is unknown whether the Men’s Project will remain.
Loughborough Label have reached out to the organiser of the Men’s Project for a comment; however, he did not reply.
