{"id":661929,"date":"2025-12-30T06:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/661929\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T06:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:56:10","slug":"students-launch-european-society-to-demand-change-over-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/661929\/","title":{"rendered":"Students launch European society to ‘demand change’ over Brexit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) society was formed in September by nursing student Mordecai Akoh.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Nigerian formed the group after attending several events in London and Newcastle, some which looked at relations between students across Europe post-Brexit and others which involved talks with politicians and delegates from the EU Embassy in London.\n<\/p>\n

\n The main focus of the society has so far been the loss of the Erasmus exchange programme<\/a>, which the UK left in December 2020 and replaced with the Turing Scheme.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cOur main aim is to create an awareness among students on campus of UK and EU relations and to see how much damage Brexit has done,\u201d said Akoh.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Over half of voters would back Remain if Brexit referendum held again<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe focus our attention on the most notable effects, which has been [the loss of] Erasmus for students. There\u2019s been a notable difference in how students can study abroad.\u00a0 With Erasmus it was a lot easier and more flexible.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThat\u2019s our main focus among many other disadvantages which we tend to get speakers to come and speak to us about, speakers who have been in EU politics for decades.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mordecai Akoh (centre), Durdane Oz (left) and Demilade Babarinde (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cOur goal is to foster a network of students who are passionate about EU relations. Things will only get better if students are actively demanding change and accountability.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Earlier this month it was confirmed the UK would rejoin the Erasmus scheme<\/a> in 2027 amid Labour efforts to improve relations with the EU.\n<\/p>\n

\n Akoh told The National this was \u201cundoubtedly great news\u201d but he stressed how he wanted to see the UK Government<\/a> extend opportunities to students who have already graduated and been unable to benefit from the initiative.\n<\/p>\n

\n Durdane Oz, who helps to organise events for the society, has not been able to continue her studies in France after studying for a year at the University of Lille through the Turing Scheme.\n<\/p>\n

\n She said not having the opportunity made her passionate about joining the group.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI had just come back from my studies in France, and I got engaged over there with youth-led organisations that were focused on EU values, and I didn\u2019t really find that in Glasgow, so it made me passionate about looking for it when I came back,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI don\u2019t have the opportunity at the moment to continue my work in Europe and that\u2019s\u2019 something I want to do, so I\u2019m very passionate about Scotland rejoining the Erasmus+ programme for young Scots to have that opportunity to go abroad and explore where they might be able to find work if not here.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n She added: \u201cThe most important point out of this for me is when we\u2019re discussing the effects of Brexit, we\u2019re trying to get young Scots engaged in the fact that we are the ones that are living the effects, but the generation before us made the decision.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Keir Starmer acknowledges the Brexit elephant in the UK\u2019s room<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n So far, the society has welcomed lecturers from the University of Glasgow, the law department at GCU and Glasgow for Europe, while an event was held with the GCU Ukrainian society on the lasting effects of war.\n<\/p>\n

\n There are plans to hold debates in the coming year and it\u2019s hoped at some stage members will be able to go on a trip to the European Parliament if enough students join the society.\n<\/p>\n

\n Akoh said: \u201cWe currently have 21 members in the society. It\u2019s a decent start to be honest.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is not a topic most people find fun and catchy. Given our mission and what we focus on, which is more serious, it\u2019s quite a decent number.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Demilade Babarinde was one student who joined the society out of pure curiosity, having arrived in Scotland after Brexit and has now become treasurer.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI am a very active person, I engage in a lot of things and I\u2019m a very curious person about politics and what\u2019s happening in Europe about Brexit,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAt the time Brexit happened I wasn\u2019t in the country at the time so I\u2019m naturally very curious as to why it happened and the downsides to it.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen Mordecai mentioned he was going to start a society I was cheering him on and joined. The sessions we\u2019ve had have been very informative and very good for someone like me and I think they will be beneficial for young people at the university who are curious and just want to increase their knowledge about what is happening in Europe.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Oz added: \u201cWe\u2019re the ones who are now putting in the work to try and have some change or reform. We\u2019re living the reality of someone else\u2019s decision.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think that can be met with a lot of frustration and that\u2019s one of the things we\u2019re trying to address, turn that frustration into something else like curiosity and engagement. There\u2019s a lot of uncertainty in young Scots\u2019 lives about where their career is going to go and I have that fear as well and it\u2019s about championing that sense of community.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe understand this isn\u2019t the easiest topic to come into and it\u2019s maybe not the most fun compared to other societies, but we\u2019re living the reality, so we have to face it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) society was formed in September by nursing student Mordecai Akoh. The Nigerian formed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-661929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115807217066441862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}