A motion to support student groups campaigning for the demilitarisation of the University was passed tonight, at the first CUSU Council of term.

It was passed with 47 affirmative votes, two votes against, and eight abstentions.

As a result of the motion, CUSU will publicly support campaigns and movements working towards demilitarisation at the University, and “mandate CUSU representatives to question, investigate and make public information about the University’s relationships with the arms industry”, as well as advocate for demilitarisation in their capacities as representatives and officers.

The CUSU motion declared that being “involved in resource provision of any kind” for companies that profit from wars worldwide is “antithetical” to the University’s mission, and that the University “urgently owe” its members greater transparency regarding its links with the arms industry.

The motion was previously raised at the the final CUSU Council meeting of last term, but was deferred due to concerns about a perceived lack of clarity. The motion proposed at tonight’s Council meeting had removed a line, present in last term’s proposal, that stated that the Council would “uphold the principles of demilitarisation” when representing students to the University on committee meetings and other communications.

This action was taken in response to certain students’ “confusion” surrounding what CUSU Council’s endorsement of the motion would entail, said the student who proposed the motion.

Increased demands for demilitarisation came after a Varsity investigation in Michaelmas term revealed that individual Cambridge colleges held over £6.5 million of investments in arms companies, and £20.7 million in fossil fuel corporations.

Last term, nearly 300 student activists marched through central Cambridge, calling on the University to  “divest, disarm [and] decolonise”. The march was organised by a coalition of student groups, including Cambridge Decolonisation Network, Demilitarise Cambridge, Cambridge University Palestine Society, Cambridge Zero Carbon Society, and Cambridge Defend Education.