Last week gair rhydd reported that Cardiff University has revealed their draft policy on religion and belief for student comment.
The news was well overdue, coming over a year after on-campus prayer facilities for Muslim students were exposed as inadequate, forcing many to carry out their prayer time in off-putting public circumstances such as in corridors or under the stairs.
Muslim students admitted that the lack of provision for their religious requirements meant they had to cut into their studies to travel to the nearest prayer room or mosque. As a result, they were left feeling “frequently humiliated and under stress”.
Now the Students’ Union is undergoing massive changes. It’s going to be bigger and better; a Union from which all students will benefit – except students of faith.
According to www.cardiffstudents.com, as a University “policy” on religion is developed, quiet space which could be used for prayer “will be allocated” in the redevelopment plans. Now, with the University’s Religion and Belief policy on its way, there seems to be nothing stopping the incorporation of this quiet space into the new Union plans. We’re just waiting for the University to pass the policy; the Union doesn’t want to clash with it on such a supposedly controversial and emotive issue.
Now it’s clear that the Union has all our best interests at heart. All year long we’ve heard slogans such as “Your Union, your vote” and “Recycle your student pound”. Even the www.cardiffstudents.com website promotes the Union as “an active, campaigning organisation, operating independently of Cardiff University and according to the needs and wishes of our 25,000 student members.” They’ve said it enough themselves: it’s our Union.
So why are we suddenly depending on the University to act? The Union explicitly advertises itself as the voice of the students and not of the institution. So why can’t it lead the way with a stance on religion and belief? Having read the University’s Religion and Belief policy, Cardiff doesn’t establish a particularly divisive or controversial stance on religion. Each point is developed within the guidelines of laws which ensure equality, such as the Racial and Religious Hatred Act or the Human Rights Act. It seems to me, therefore, that the University is not doing that much more than what’s legally required of it.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m pleased that this policy has been developed. It’s a bold step for a university which claims to pride itself on its secular status. But as the Union has seemingly shied away from taking its own bold steps towards catering for religion it has shifted the responsibility for students of faith firmly onto the University.
Perhaps it should be the University’s concern. Muslim students have admitted to missing lectures so that they can travel to a prayer room, so the current lack of provision clearly impacts upon study life.
To this, some may respond that faith is an entirely individual choice. Many, some students of faith included, would say that it is not the role of the Union or the University to cater for those who choose to impose religious requirements upon their lives. But by not adequately meeting the needs of those students who do follow a religion I would assert that this individual choice is simply being denied.
In any case, by redefining prayer rooms as ‘quiet rooms’, both the University and the Union have, conveniently, escaped any religious connotations. So, if prayer space in the Union is dependent on a policy about religion and faith, will it ever seriously be on the agenda?
In my opinion, both the Union and the University have already made up their minds and the answer seems to be a resounding, categorical “no”.
