The concept being developed further by the creative agency is the product of discussion at council; the survey; considerations of our demographic; and the student, staff and stakeholder workshops. Nothing about the rebrand has been decided to ‘go against what students want’ – it would be counterproductive and undermine the entire purpose of this exercise, and I (the aforementioned Union President) have no agenda that involves acting against the interests of the students – all decisions made are being made by students, for students, and while some will miss the name SUSU, many will be pleased to see the new Union that is the product of the many reviews and changes being made this year to bring student decision making and ownership of the Union front and centre.

The results and the report based on the results will be available soon, and will explain the reasoning behind the changes being made. While many students felt strongly that the SUSU name was a classic, the majority found it catchy but exclusive – it requires further explanation or introduction to get involved with. I’ve also had international students actually laugh out loud at the name SUSU (it translates poorly to say the least) and that is worth great consideration when international students comprise roughly one third of our population. There were issues brought up outside the survey in the focus groups that have been given due consideration, and the new brand concepts presented to council were based on the key word arising from consultation of ‘inclusive’ – including the new name.