The Story of UTSU

The University of Tartu Student Union was established on May 17, 1920. The organisation's name at the time was Student Union Representation (Estonian - Üliõpilaskonna Edustus), and medical student Josep H. Heinman from the Estonian Students Society was elected as the first chairman. 

The Union was initially allocated premises on what is now Liivi street, where the first and only dormitory in Tartu at the time was located. However, this building was gradually given over to the Estonian State Central Archives and the students had to find a new place. In 1926, the department acquired a building next to the main building on Ülikooli street, which became known as the student house and which we now know as the Ülikooli Cafe. 

The work of the Student Union Representation was mainly carried out in departments, which were divided into permanent and temporary. The economic department mainly dealt with the student house and the student kitchen. One of the first tasks of the department was to establish a common kitchen in the student house. It became very popular over the years: catering was offered to as many as 800–1,000 students a day. The food there was affordable for students, and therefore other downtown dining establishments had to keep the prices of lunch offers low. 

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Alongside the economic department, there were foreign affairs, cultural and several other departments, which changed over time. The Representation was wide-ranging: a student newspaper was published; lotteries were organised and even plans were made to build their own stadium. 

In the early years, the activities of the Representation were financed by project-based grants and income from events. The University Act adopted in 1925 established university funding, which covered most of the costs of the Representation. For example, the budget for 1935 was 16,000 kroons. For comparison, in 1933–1934, the average hourly wage in Estonia was 29 cents and the daily wage was slightly over two kroons. 

Hard times came in 1940 with the first Soviet occupation. Under foreign rule, Tartu State University began operating with a new name and different principles. Like other similar organisations, the Union's activities were also discontinued. Regarding the Soviet era, there is no comparable representation of students' interests in the same category. 

Exam session gets in the way 

Thoughts about restoring the Representation had been circulating earlier, but in June 1990, an appeal was published in the Universitas Tartuensis, which emphasised the need for a student representative body. The university newspaper had become a forum for exchanging ideas about possible steps to restore the student union. However, there was no progress in the following months, and later the parties involved attributed this to the exam session that had begun in June. 

However, in autumn of 1990, elections were announced. They took place at the beginning of December of the same year, in the lobby of the university library. Unlike the pre-war representation, the student body now had 25 members and in 1996 it was renamed the University of Tartu Student Union, or UTSU. 

The main work took place according to the 1996 statute, in four major permanent departments: educational, social, cultural and informational departments. The most numerous and most active were the informational and social departments, which had around 20 members. Since 1999, the premises of the student union have been located next to the main building of the university. 

Focus on educational issues 

Over the years, the statutes and other basic documents of UTSU have been repeatedly updated. In 2001, the foundation of the now independently operating UT Student Body Foundation was laid, which is currently known as the cooperation network of student organisations Ole Rohkem. Unlike the pre-war representation, the main goal of UTSU has been to deal with educational issues, not social problems or events. The exception is the traditional National University Anniversary Ball, which has been organised by both the original representation and now UTSU. 

The structure of UTSU has undergone changes over the years, the most significant of which have been related to the general structural change of the university. Currently, student representatives are present in all institutes and colleges. A 20-member student parliament is formed from the members of the student council of the faculty, and five students represent students in the university senate. All work is coordinated by the board and the bureau. In place of the former departments, committees and working groups were established in 2013. Since 2005, UTSU’s elections have been organised electronically. 

Over the years, many of the top figures in Estonian society have emerged from the Student Union: journalists, scientists, politicians, officers and other specialists in their fields. Former representatives work in various dignified positions – some as ministers in the government, some as professors at university, etc. When they recall the years they spent in the Student Union, they all agree that the experience was worth the effort, they made good lifelong friends, and it was certainly interesting. 

The text was published in the journal Universitas Tartuensis in May 2020. Written by Toivo Kikkas.