"This Union is directed by its members and aims to enhance the experience of students whilst at the University of Warwick."
- The Union's Mission Statement
The University of Warwick was founded in October 1965 with an intake of 450 students. In just over 40 years it has firmly established itself as a prestigious academic institution with over 20,000 students and is now regularly ranked as one of the top 5 UK Universities in the Guardian League Tables. After its formation a Students’ Union quickly came into being but it soon became clear that there were insufficient student services on campus and the Union desperately required its own building to fulfil this need.
The then head of the University, Jack Butterworth famously declared that “The Students’ Union shall never have its own building…” a quote that is regularly referred to and one that thankfully didn’t come to fruition. In 1970 there was a breakthrough and the University gave the Union a temporary building called “The Balloon”. Sadly this was des¬perately unsuitable and in 1973 the Union gave the University a paper entitled “Now or Never” which outlined the key reasons the Union needed a building of its own. The paper was stamped “non-negotiable” and highlighted the fact that students saw the Union as the central focus of their social and cultural life whilst at University, a principle that remains true to this day. In 1974, with the unwavering support of Head of Maths Professor Zee¬man, the University agreed and gave the Union its own building.
That was over thirty years ago, and with the exception of some minor alterations the building has remained pretty much the same. It had been designed as a meeting space for the 2000 students then on campus. With the increase in student numbers and changing demands, it was clear that the old building had long passed its best and was deemed to be no longer fit for purpose. After a lengthy plan-ning and preparation process, the University and the Union revealed a staggering £11 mil¬lion redevelopment project to be implemented in two phases. No longer just a simple meeting place, today’s Union contains a fully functioning entertainment venue, a pub, several bars and food outlets, as well as offering a host of membership services and providing places for students, staff and members of the public to meet. It is used by societies, clubs, committees and groups for a host of different reasons, events and festivals. This usage demands a modern state of the art facility and our exciting new building will be completed during the academic year 2009/10.
