Press release 5 November 2020
For immediate release
The two-day General Assembly of the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) will be held remotely for the first time on 12–13 November 2020. The General Assembly wields the highest decision-making power in SYL and elects a new President and six Board Members for the Union for 2021. In addition, the Assembly outlines the objectives and activities of SYL in 2021 and decides on changes to SYL’s Policy Paper. The Policy Paper directs all advocacy work of the Union.
All 14 student unions will be represented at the General Assembly. The unions represent around 130,000 university students in total. Altogether, the student unions elect 139 full representatives to the General Assembly. The number of participants will total around 300.
The General Assembly will start on Thursday 12 November at 9.30 and continue on Friday 13 November at 10.00. The election of SYL‘s President will take place at the General Assembly on Thursday, and the elections for the Board will be held on Friday. We will inform the media about the results as soon as we can after the elections. This year, there are three candidates for the post of President for SYL: Annika Nevanpää (TREY), Aleksi Sandroos (VYY) and Teemu Virtanen (OYY).
There are currently five other candidates for the six posts of Board Members. The candidates nominated by the student unions and one political group are Ville Jäppinen (TREY), Konstantin Kouzmitchev (Student Union of NCP) Riku-Petteri Kyllönen (HYY), Akseli Rouvari (HYY), Camilla Saarinen (TYY) and Saara Tenhovuori (ISYY). Candidates may be nominated until the elections take place at the General Assembly. You can read more about the candidates on SYL’s website at https://syl.fi/en/candidates-for-the-board-and-president-of-syl-2021/.
The student movement has been calling for tougher climate action for a long time. Now, we want to include promoting climate action in the official SYL policy. SYL’s President Tapio Hautamäki says: “The climate crisis is currently the biggest threat to our society, and that’s why it’s also a fundamental threat to students. The university student movement has always been a driving force for societal change. We have every opportunity to push for a change in the right direction in this issue. I look forward to discussing the climate issue at the General Assembly.”
The media are welcome to follow the General Assembly in a live webcast on SYL’s YouTube channel on both days.
Interviews are preferably given during the lunch breaks (Thu at 12–13 and Fri at 13–14) and after the General Assembly. Please contact SYL’s Communications Adviser for more information or scheduling interviews (siiri.nousiainen@syl.fi, tel. +358 41 515 2228).
SYL’s General Assembly will also be webcast live on SYL’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/sylvideot. The hashtags used on social media will be #SYLliittari and #StudentsOfFinland.
For further information, please contact:
Secretary General Sonja Raitamäki, tel. +358 40 741 1251
SYL President Tapio Hautamäki, tel. +358 44 906 5007
During the General Assembly, we recommend that you contact our Communications Adviser Siiri Nousiainen, tel. +358 41 515 2228.
You reach us by email at firstname.surname@syl.fi.
Documents for the General Assembly are available at https://syl.fi/en/events/general-assembly/.
The online documents also include a more detailed schedule and agenda for the Assembly.
