Poster advertising student unions meeting

This small collection contains a poster advertising a joint meeting between the student unions of Hull University and the Hull College of Education to discuss a proposed merger of the unions.

The University College of Hull was founded in 1927 through the support of local benefactors, such as Thomas Robinson Ferens, G F Grant and the City Council. The Duke of York (George VI) laid the foundation stone in 1928 and the College opened in October with 39 students and 14 'one-man' departments.

Located on Cottingham Road in Hull, with just one building (now the Venn Building), the new University College Hull was an outpost of the University of London and offered courses in the arts and pure sciences. During its early years, the College faced the changing economic trends of the 1930s and then the outbreak of war, which led to falling student numbers, buildings being commandeered and books being evacuated for safe-keeping.

The first Principal, Arthur Morgan, was succeeded in 1935 by John Nicholson, who led the campaign to achieve the College's independence, which was achieved on 13 May 1954. A Royal Charter was granted and the University of Hull became a separate institution with the right to award its own degrees - it was Yorkshire's third university and England's 14th.

By 1956 the student population had grown to over 1000 and in 1960 the new Brynmor Jones library was opened by the Queen Mother. Further buildings were added including the Larkin and Wilberforce buildings and the tower extension to the Library was completed in 1970.

In 2000, the University merged with the University College Scarborough creating a Scarborough Campus and in 2003 acquired the Hull campus of the University of Lincoln, which is now the home of the Hull York Medical School.

The Hull University Students' Union (HUU) has played a significant role in the life of the University from the beginning. The first female president of the student union was Freda Roll who was elected in 1930 and later married Sir Eric Roll. The HUU has produced a newspaper for students from 1928 which has continued to the present day, initially called Torch, later Torchlight and now Hullfire. A newspaper called Joynt was also briefly published in partnership with other higher education institutions in Hull between 1972 and 1973, a reflection of a desire at the time for greater co-operation. Over the years the HUU has been heavily involved in campaigning as well as fundraising for charities. In 2012, the HUU was voted Students' Union of the Year at the National Union of Students Awards.

Hull College is a further education College, accepting students from age 14 onwards, and is one of the largest schools of its type in the UK. It has four major centres in Hull including Queen's Gardens, Park Street, Cannon Street and the KC Stadium as well as a centre in Goole and another in Harrogate with a further 30 centres across the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

Donated by Ian G Andrews, Rochdale, 2 January 2002

Torch, Torchlight, Hullfire student newspapers [U SUH/1]

Joynt student newspaper [U SUH/3]