A group of students at Peterhouse have called for a referendum on the college’s affiliation to CUSU in a letter to their JCR committee.

The letter, signed by 17 undergraduates, requests an open meeting on the possibility of a referendum and expresses grievances borne out of the university-wide referendum on CUSU’s membership of the National Union of Students (NUS), which resulted in a narrow win for the "No" to disaffiliation campaign on Friday afternoon.

The signatories of the letter “believe CUSU has let down Jewish students, and failed to take an active role in defending them from alleged anti-Semitic events, such as the harmful language used at the NUS Conference.”

Eloise Davies, a signatory of the letter, commented: “We are deeply disappointed by CUSU's handling of the NUS anti-Semitism scandal. This comes on top of longer term concerns about the organisation's incompetence and demands urgent action”.

Specifically, they go on to note that though “CUSU sabbatical officers sent a letter to the NUS condemning anti-Semitism”, they had been obliged to do so by a vote at CUSU Council.

The letter voices frustrations with other aspects of the way the referendum unfolded in recent weeks, namely with how “voter turnout was publicly revealed while voting in the referendum was still ongoing” and how “the financial relationship between CUSU and the NUS was seriously misrepresented.”

However, the letter raises other concerns about CUSU, for instance with “the management of the TCS [The Cambridge Student] controversy”, and with the way this term's two CUSU Council meetings were conducted: “the huge difficulty of expressing any criticism or concerns was clear from the outset, as contributors were repeatedly silenced by CUSU officials.”

The letter also contains allegations specific to Peterhouse, concerning CUSU “associates (even some students connected to CUSU-endorsed campaigns), who sent abusive and vitriolic messages to more than one member of this college.”

Polling by Varsity prior to the referendum on CUSU’s membership of NUS revealed that Peterhouse was Cambridge's most anti-NUS college, with 77 per cent of Petreans polled in favour of a “Leave” vote.

JCRs at two colleges have disaffiliated from CUSU in recent years, students at Corpus Christi College and Gonville and Caius College voting to break ties in 2010 and 2013 respectively.

At the time Caius voted to disaffiliate, Selwyn College had only just narrowly voted to restore their own affiliation with CUSU.

In October 2015, Churchill College held a referendum on whether to remain affiliated to CUSU in which over 80 per cent of voters opted to retain ties with the university-wide union.

It is important to note, however, that in the event of a college’s JCR disaffilating, the individual students of the college in question remain members of CUSU, and retain the right to vote in CUSU elections. 

The group of students calling for a referendum at Peterhouse reference Corpus Christi and Caius, saying that they “will make use of information” from the two disaffilated colleges “to ensure the process is as smooth as possible.”

Regarding what the implications of disaffiliation would be, the signatories are confident that it wouldn't impede the college’s access or welfare efforts and that Peterhouse JCR would still be able to “effectively fulfil its role”. 

They also point to “grassroots” campaigns, “organised on social media” such as protests over rents at King's College and the Cambridge Student Minds Campaign as proof that being part of CUSU is not a precondition of being able to effect change for students.

Instead, they contend: “Disaffilation would be an opportunity for the JCR to collectively take a meaningful stand against CUSU's actions”.