The dust has settled in the struggle for freshmen, but the aftermath sees more losers than victors. Most nations are losing members, which might end up being even more significant next year, when a new nation grant system will come into effect.
Ever since the Studentlund cooperation was started in 2010, a friendly battle has been fought during every freshman period over which nation is the most attractive in Lund. The fall term 2013 has not been an exception. In the recruitment of freshmen, Lund and Malmö Nation came out on top, but compared to last year’s results Västgöta enjoyed the largest success, bolstering their member base with upwards of 12 percent more members.
The total amount of Studentlund members is down by almost 1 000 people compared to the fall term of 2012. Seven out of thirteen nations suffered a drop in their total membership compared to the equivalent term the previous year, with Östgöta suffering the largest decrease.
New nation grant
Recruiting large amounts of freshmen is important for nations to maintain their size, but now another aspect has been added, through the new nation grant. Starting in 2014, all nations will be able to apply for 25 SEK per full-year and doctoral student. The new grant is an initiative undertaken by students, but the curate collegiate and vice-chancellor Per Eriksson are on board as well. The idea is to move the focus of nation activities away from alcohol.
– Our students are remarkably good at running their club and pub businesses, but they themselves have said that they would like to be able to dedicate resources to various other pursuits, which we want to encourage, says vice-chancellor Per Eriksson.
The nations have acknowledged how dependent their establishments are on their clubs and pubs, activities that can turn over 50 000-100 000 SEK per evening for a large- to medium-sized nation. The grant will be tailored to the differing membership sizes, and a large nation might qualify for a grant of around 60 000 SEK – barely adding up to half a club night for a nation of that size. For the smaller nations, the grant would be more along the lines of 30 000 SEK or less. A small amount given the circumstances, perhaps.
– The grant is not a huge sum, but rather a symbolic gesture to give the nations a springboard to further develop their activity palettes with sports, culture and other social pastimes for students, says head of planning, Tim Ekberg, at Lund University.
Not to be used for alcohol
The condition associated with the grant, that it not be put towards anything alcohol-related, is partially a result of the fact that the grant is government-funded and therefore is only to be used in study-social activities. In addition, there’s an active requirement as well: nations must be able to attest that the money is put to wholesome use.
– Nations are required to disclose how they’ve chosen to invest their money and if there’s anything dubious we demand an explanation. If the nations are using the money directly for alcohol-related ventures or in some other way administer the nation grant in an unacceptable way, it’s possible that they will be asked to refund the money, or at least find it difficult to apply for the grant again, depending on the exact terms of the contract, says Tim Ekberg.
But just how the grant is supposed to be declared for is still unclear. As before, most nations keep their bookkeeping under wraps to non-members, something that might change depending on the level of transparency the university requires.
Investing in choirs and sports
The curator collegiate are very grateful for the grant in developing their nations.
– The nation club and pub businesses are the most lucrative. We’ve previously arranged things like sewing evenings in the form of study circles, but thanks to the grant we might be able to throw that sort of thing more full-bore, says the curator collegiate’s chairman Cecilia Patriksson.
Since the announcement of the nation grant, some of the nations have already decided what activities they will put the grant money towards. Östgöta Nation are planning to use some of the grant on their choir, the Ostrochorus.
– We will use the lion’s share of the money to develop our choir, for instance by employing a conductor and paying for the premises. Otherwise, we have committees for both NATU and sports that we would like to make a bit more flexible, says Gustaf Moberg, curator at Östgöta nation.
Lund Nation are also planning to use some of the money on their sports activities.
– We’ll consult our members, but it’s probable that we’ll use the money to improve our sports events. Our ambition is to strive towards non-alcoholic activities, so the grant is a good means towards that, says Kajsa Påhlman, curator at Lund Nation.
Footnote: Lundagård has requested statistics from Småland Nation, but they have been unable to supply any.
Text: Hanna Dahlberg
Translation: Jesper Lodin
