Content warning: sexual violence

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Rally Against Sexual Violence
On 1 August, students rallied at the University of Melbourne against sexual violence for the first anniversary of the nation-wide survey into sexual assault and sexual harassment at Australian universities. The rally was organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) and the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) womens’ departments.

In Conversation With Students
Farrago reporters Wing Kuang and Maggy Liu talk to students about sexual violence and university inaction, one year on from 1 August.

Motion of No Confidence In NUS LGBTI Officer Passes At National Queer Conference
There is pressure on Jasmine Duff, one of the two queer/LGBTI officers at the NUS, to resign, after a motion of no confidence in her was passed at the Queer Collaborations conference last month.

Staff to Boycott Open Day
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is organising another staff strike for 14 August, 8am–1pm, and a boycott of the University’s open day on 19 August. While progress has been made on reaching an enterprise bargaining agreement that both the University and the NTEU are happy with, the NTEU still has a number of demands that are yet to be met. More to come.

Finding Love on Campus
A few weeks ago, Farrago reporter Maggy Liu profiled the Facebook page UniMelb Love Letters, a sort of nexus for the lovelorn and the hopelessly romantic on campus. Alex Epstein can’t find love—so he decided to find out, with scientific rigour, the best spots on campus to fall in love with a stranger. Now you can too, thanks to this interactive map.

UMSU Elections
UMSU elections are approaching, and factional tensions are heating up. Nominations close on 10 August, so we’ll soon know which factions are running for which positions. More to come.

New UA Guidelines
Peak tertiary education body Universities Australia has released new guidelines for universities for responding to students who have experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment. The guidelines are survivor-centric, and focus on points such as equipping staff members with the skills to deal with disclosures, improving residential college procedures, assisting survivors for whom English is not their first language and improving reporting mechanisms. The guidelines are, however, just guidelines, meaning that they are non-binding.

Creswick Campus
Concerns have been raised in the town of Creswick because the University has moved the masters degree that was based there to the Parkville campus. According to an article in The Courier, the reduction of students in the town is detrimentally affecting small businesses and the campus itself, which is still used by some researchers.

Prosh week
The annual Prosh week is occuring in week nine of semester. Prosh, a University tradition, is a week of antics where teams compete for points. Activities include billy kart races through campus, nude runs, team dances and going for a 24-hour drive to an undisclosed location. You can find a team or make your own on their website.

Collated by Ashleigh Barraclough