| Administrative History | The committee was established for the 1948-1949 academic session as a standing committee of the Guild related to the Grants and Welfare committee. Its remit was to deal with relations with organisations outside the Guild and University. Together with the Grants and Welfare committee it was responsible for the provision of 'external services'. The External Affairs committee was the point of contact for the NUS; World University Service; and International Student conference. The World University Service had its own sub-committee. Another sub-committee was that of the South African Student Segregation Investigation committee, responsible for organisation of the President's South Africa Society and Fund, 1959.
By 1962, the External Affairs committee also managed relations with the British Council; Birmingham Conference for Overseas Students; Birmingham Settlement; and the university authorities. There was an International Student Relations Secretary with particular responsibility for the welfare of International students; and a Local Service Secretary who acted as a liaison between students and organisations working to provide social care and alleviate hardship in the local community, particularly in the Ladywood and Balsall Heath areas of Birmingham in the late 1960s and 1970s. The committee also established links with Shelter, and was involved with work on international development, particularly VSO. During the 1968-1969 session it ran a sub-committee called Committee on Service which put students in touch with social work activities in Birmingham. It was listed as an Executive committee from 1969-1970 and during the 1980s was considered the main campaigning body of the Guild, supporting several sub-groups including Amnesty International, Anti-Apartheid group, and ecological, animal rights, and peace groups. It was still active in the early 1990s. |