Individual Common Rooms can also disaffiliate, although few have chosen to do so since Oxford SU started being funded from a block grant from the university rather than through affiliation fees.

[citation needed][11] Oxford SU is made up an executive committee, which includes six full-time salaried sabbatical officers, who generally serve in the year following completion of their Final Examinations, although this is not a requirement, and various part-time elected student positions.

[citation needed] On 5 November 1973, an open meeting called for direct action against the university on the issue of a Central Students Union building.

The University Registrar sent an open letter to all Junior Members threatening proceedings in the High Court and disciplinary action against those who could be identified.

The Bursar of St John's College wrote to the President of the Junior Common Room on 11 February noting, "all the talk that is going on at the present time about occupation", and stating that in future the Bursary would be kept locked.

Sue Lukes, David Aaronovitch and others attempted to defeat a motion stating that it was the position of OUSU not to support any occupation of university premises in furtherance of the CSU campaign.

[26][non-primary source needed] The following day, an anonymous flyer was circulated, headed 'Remember 5 November', it gave warning to the university that "You have had three months and your time is up.

"[citation needed] At 9.15 am on Wednesday 13 February approximately 50 or 60 students entered the Indian Institute building in Catte Street shouting that they were occupying it and demanding that the people working there should leave.

Eighteen students were charged with an offence under the University Statutes and were required to attend at the Proctor's Office in cap and gown on 21 February under threat of being rusticated if they did not appear.

[29][non-primary source needed] On the testimony, mainly, of a University Police Officer, Philip Berry, all of the defendants were convicted of being present at the occupation.

Alan Hughes of Trinity (known as 'Bernard' because of his resemblance to Bernard Levin) was the President, and Jervis Smith of Queen's served as the other sabbatical officer.

In December 1985 OUSU adopted a No Platform policy following a controversial invitation to Patrick Harrington to speak at the Brasenose Debating Society.

The Oxford University Conservative Association organised a petition of almost 700 signatures, more than the minimum requirement, to put the policy to a referendum of the student union's members.

In 2001, Kirsty McNeill led a successful protest to stop the visit of Holocaust denier David Irving to the debating society.

In 2007, the Oxford Union attracted condemnation again for inviting Irving and BNP leader Nick Griffin to speak at a "free speech forum".

The then OUSU President, Martin McCluskey, led a campaign against the visits which attracted attention and support from national anti-fascist organisations, politicians[34][35][36] and media commentators.

Oxford SU has also been mentioned[37] in a Governmental enquiry of freedom of speech in universities due to one of its liberation campaigns disrupting a talk at St John's College organised by a student anti-abortion rights group on abortion in Ireland.

A protest started shortly after one of the organisers introduced the speakers and involved chants such as "Pro-life, that's a lie, you don't care if women die".

The police were called[38][39] after one of the protesters got into a minor altercation with a security guard, although no arrests were made and the talk eventually started after 40 minutes.

The anti-abortion rights group called this "a deliberate attempt to shut down discussion and dialogue through harassment and bullying"[40] and later issued a second statement[41] accusing the SU of breaking the law.

[53][56] The Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party demanded that the university probe into the anti-Hindu atmosphere; Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar supported Samant and even promised to raise the issue with his British counterparts, if required.

[55][54][57] The Oxford Hindu, Indian, and South Asian societies dismissed Samant's allegations as part of a "misleading narrative", that fed into the "fundamentally exclusionary and discriminatory" nature of Hindutva.