The Students’ Union should lobby for the Demilitarisation of the University of Leicester.
- This proposal was taken to the first Leicester 100 meeting on 4th November 2025.
- Out of 82 voting members, 49 voted to pass the action, with 19 against and 14 abstain.
- The proposal was recommended for referendum which was ratified by the Membership and Governance Sub-Committee.
You can read the full policy here
Become Part of the Campaign Team
If you would like to become part of either the 'yes' or 'no' campaign teams then complete the Join a Campaign Team – form. The deadline for joining a team is midday on Monday 12 January to do this. There will then be a briefing held at 2.00pm for the no campaign and 3.30pm for the yes campaign on the same day.
Key Dates and Rules
The voting for the Referendum will take place between 9.00am on January 27 and 8.00pm on on Wednesday 28, with campaigning beginning at 8.00am on Monday 26 January.
Click here for the Referenda Regulations and here for the Timetable
What will happen if the Referendum Passes?
If the referendum passes, the Students' Union will take the actions as outlined in the actions section of the proposal:
1. The Students’ Union to issue a statement that condemns the University’s continued work, and promotion of companies producing armaments. This statement should highlight those companies found to be supporting what has been ruled a plausible genocide. This statement should urge the university to ban arms companies from careers fairs and events, to disallow staff to promote these companies when acting as a representative for the University and to commit to cutting all research and enterprise relationships with companies involved in the arms trade upon the end of those contracts. It should be highlighted that the continued work being undertaken with arms companies has had a substantial effect on the University of Leicester’s reputation, with several articles on reputable news sites being published online.
2. The Students’ Union should organise regular meetings to talk with upper management and the careers department on this issue to voice student’s concerns. These meetings should also be used to defend students’ rights to protest against this.
3. To pressure the University to change, the Students’ Union should refuse to work with the careers department for any future events or the University on any unnecessary events until actions are implemented to ban these companies from campus and to cut research contracts with these companies in due time. This could involve not using and SU staff hours on these events, and if possible, not allowing these events to go ahead inside the Students’ Union building.