Robinson is holding a referendum on Friday on whether to disaffiliate from CUSU. 

The referendum was brought about following the action of 55 students, led by former chair of the Robinson College Students Association (RCSA) Ewan McGregor, who began a petition last term for the chance to vote for disaffiliation.

2010 saw Corpus Christi become the first college to disaffiliate. There are concerns that a successful decision for disaffiliation in Friday's referendum could spark a wave of similar proposals in other colleges. This would have a potentially grievous effect on CUSU’s revenues and its ability to provide services.

At the moment, Robinson spends 8% of its annual budget, amounting to £2807 this year, on CUSU affiliation. The contribution from Robinson equates to 0.5% of the budget of CUSU. The potential loss is seen as most likely to hit its Black, Women, LBGT, International and Disabled campaigns the hardest.

In return, the RCSA receives membership of the multiple CUSU committees, potential CUSU support in situations of dispute with the college, and training for RCSA committee members. Upon disaffiliation, they would lose these services, as well as the right to cast votes in the decision-making process of CUSU.

In addition, one of the key worries for those who are challenging the proposal to disaffiliate is access at the college, which currently depends heavily on CUSU affiliation. If RCSA were to disaffiliate, the college would be unable to participate in the national scope of CUSU’s access initiatives, including hosting school students as part of CUSU’s highly popular annual Access Shadowing Scheme.

An open meeting on Wednesday at Robinson allowed debate of the issue with representatives from CUSU. The meeting brought to light the scepticism of RCSA members, including McGregor, towards CUSU, which he accused of being out of touch with the needs of the college, and “bureaucratically intensive”.

A key issue in the meeting was that of CUSU and publicity, which had been one of the main reasons for the Corpus split, after JCR committee representatives highlighted the failure of CUSU to provide clear information "as to what affiliation fees are used for and what CUSU actually does for JCR/MCR committees.”

Tully stressed a future of reform, in response to McGregor’s claims that change was unachievable. According to McGregor, “If you wanted to reform CUSU from the inside, you would have more of a chance of wearing down the college with a toothbrush.”

However, the services RCSA members receive as individual members of CUSU, including the ability to stand for CUSU positions and the right to attend its Open Meetings, would be unaffected by the potential split.

This also includes a wide range of other services that CUSU offers, from the University Counselling Service to the Societies Fair, which Robinson students would still be entitled to.