Established in 1991, Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty Students’ Representation is the oldest and largest students’ autonomy in Kaunas. It has successfully been continuing with the works of their forerunners: organisation of traditional events, campaigns, collaborations with the administration with the focus on academic and social affairs, development of closer relations with Vilnius University Representatives and the so-called “little centre” (the central office), improvement in training organised in Vilnius and Kaunas in order to achieve qualitative students’ representation. Moreover, the members of Students’ Representation aim at being fun, active and determined – just like the first members of Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty Students’ Representation.
The Students' Representation was established by Tomas Palšis, better known as the Director General of ACME Baltija Ltd. It all started with an activist circle. The story goes that during those years, there were suggestions made to close Kaunas Faculty ; however, the representatives of the students joined forces, stood against the idea and showed that they can be (and are!) a great power. The Faculty's authority understood that the students' autonomy is important and started paying more attention to it. As a result, the Students' Representation got premises and more freedom to act.
Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty Students' Representation has been managed by the following presidents: Regimantas Buožius, Ramūnas Pilvelis, Laurynas Mitkus, Egidijus Merkevičius; the first female president - Renata Pauliukaitytė. Later on, Renata was replaced by Mindaugas Jasiulis, Jurgita Skirmantaitė, Rasa Vileikytė, Edvinas Jančiauskas, Birutė Zumaraitė, Tadas Žirgulis, Algirdas Kviklys, Julius Spudvilas, Gintarė Lazdinytė, Lukas Jakštas, Justas Paulikas, Neda Žutautaitė. Currently, the Chairman of Students' Representation is Lijana Savickienė.
Each new president has been a breath of fresh air and new ideas for the Students' Representation. They carried out a number of events, e.g. Nulių šou (en. Zeros Show – an event for first year students), Pirmakursių krikštynos (en. Initiation (Baptism) of the First Year Students), the birthday party of Students' Representation, basketball tournament, bowling competition, Valentinų išpardavimai (en. Valentines on Sale – an event for the St. Valentine's Day), Christmas night with lecturers, Freshmen Camp, Sielų upė (en. The River of Souls – an event to commemorate the deceased on the All Saints' Day when the main streets of the Old Town and the Liberty Avenue light up with thousands of candles).
The Freshmen Camp is a perfect opportunity for the first year students to get acquainted with the University, the Faculty and the Students' Representation. The camp takes place in the end of August. In September, the first year students are awarded the title of "Zeros" ( about a Lithuanian equivalent of freshmen) in the traditional event Zeros Show, yet they become full freshmen only after participating in the fun event of the "Baptism". Normally, after this ceremony, the students are forced to cure light bruises, scratches and send their dirty clothes back to their moms after taking on a series of challenges in the swamps of the Fort track, yet the smiles that cover their faces radiate joy.
The River of Souls is an event organised by Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty Students' Representation that gets increasingly more successful. The pioneer of this idea is Agnė Januškevičiūtė who worked in the team of the head Rasa Vileikytė. The idea was born in 2002. The campaign's initial vision was to shed the light of candles throughout the Parodos Hill, not only the main street of the Old Town – Vilnius street – but also other cozy Old Town streets. Maybe someday this event will also be organised in the capital of Lithuania – Vilnius. This campaign is becoming an increasingly important event in the life of the Kaunas City. In 2008, January, the president of the Students' Representation Algirdas Kviklys was awarded a Kindness Crystal (a traditional award of the Kaunas City Mayor) for kind activity for the Kaunas community and the entire Lithuania. According to A. Kviklys, the crystal was meant to be an award for the whole Students' Representation. "Still and all, I believe that this is a big recognition of us as an organisation in the entire Kaunas City. We are becoming known, seen and valued. What else would we need", said A. Kviklys.
Back in the day, the Students' Representation had an anthem. It was a birthday present from Mindaugas Mickevičius, better known as a Lithuanian artist Mino. He wrote lyrics in Lithuanian for the "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol. Currently, the members of the Students' Representation have plans to create a new anthem. As the joke goes, the first line for the future anthem already exists: "As you walked down the street ..." The Students' Representation hopes to start the next birthday by singing their new anthem.
Throughout the eighteen years of the existence of Students' Representation a lot of changes have been made: they have had many presidents, different leading principles, different members, goals, activity priorities, even the premises. However, the main goal and the idea remain the same, i.e. to qualitatively and creatively represent their students' interests. As one of the presidents of the Students' Representation Laurynas Mitkus maintains, there is nothing stronger than a solid ideological team working towards a shared goal without having any thoughts of a reward.
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