History
The Union was founded in 1881, following the merger of the Normal School of Science with the Royal School of Mines. This later merged with the City & Guilds Institute of London to form modern day Imperial College. With the disappearance of the RCS as an independent institute, it was felt necessary that all students of the Sciences at the new Imperial College be represented by a union which carried on the name and spirit of the RCS. The first president of the RCSU was H.G. Wells, who was later to become a famous science fiction author, and many distinguished names have held that position since then, with the Union currently being led by James Tsim.
The RCSU was briefly disbanded for a few years in the early 2000s following the College's decision to split up the Sciences Faculty into separate Faculties of Physical and Life Sciences, with the RCSU at the time deciding to follow suit, splitting into the Physical Sciences Union (PhysSci) and the Life Sciences Union (LifeSci). In 2006 however, following the College's rapid decision to re-merge the faculties, it was decided to also re-merge the two student unions, with the new union named the Royal College of Science Union, following a popular vote. The RCSU was first led by Jad Marrouche followed by Jenny Morgan, David Charles, Katya-yani Vyas, then Scott Heath.
Nowadays, the RCSU is an active union which organises many varied events for science students at Imperial College, such as the Science Challenge - a science-based essay competition with over £20,000-worth of prizes, a football league and a number of social events throughout the year, such as the Freshers' Ball, bar nights, club nights and a host of RAG week events such as tours of the Queen's Tower.
Read more about this topic: Royal College Of Science Union
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