Ruchika Tulshyan, News Editor
27th November 2007
A motion to make the LSE Students’ Union (LSESU) Raising and Giving (RAG) Society a separate constituent body of the LSESU was passed at the Union General Meeting (UGM) last Thursday, having been on the order paper for nearly a month. RAG will now be a separate arm of the LSESU, dedicated to raising money for charity.
This amendment to LSESU’s Codes of Practice creates a more clearly defined position for RAG within the LSESU. RAG will no longer function as a Society. Charlie Samuda, co-founder of the new, year-long RAG, likened RAG’s new position to the organisation of the Athletics Union (AU) and the Media Group within the LSESU.
RAG has raised in excess of £8000 since the start of this term. Last year, the LSESU amended their Codes of Practice to make RAG a year-long event rather than a week of fundraising. In many other universities, RAG has been an organisation of the Students’ Union for years and is, as one third year LSE student remarked “an inherent part of university life, unlike at the LSE.”
Samuda said, “The proposal to make RAG a constituent body of the LSESU came about due to logistical difficulties of not having a clearly defined structure within the Union. We were working in collaboration with many other Societies but realised that in terms of functionality, we would be best off being a separate organisation. We’re quite an informal organisation anyway so this new change should make things easier, not put up more obstacles.
“Our goal is to ultimately raise as much money as possible by the end of the year,” added Samuda.
Sherlyn Wong, a second year international history student and active member of RAG said, “This year so far has been such a huge success for RAG. Now that this motion has been passed I can only hope that RAG becomes an integral part of LSE student life.”
Within the next two weeks, RAG will be holding elections for a variety of positions, such as president and treasurer.
Anyone interested in being a part of RAG should contact su.rag@lse.ac.uk.