The Chancellor at No. 42

The new University Chancellor was announced last week as Sanjeev Bhaskar OBE. A writer and actor, Bhaskar is famed for his roles in TV comedy Goodness Gracious Me and his leading role in comedy chat-show The Kumars at No. 42. Read more

‘Invisible Children’ come to Sussex

Last week The ‘Invisible Children’ came to Sussex University a debate to promote their campaign for awareness of Civil Rights atrocities in Uganda. The group focuses on the ongoing Ugandan civil war and its use of abducted young children that are forced to fight for Joseph Kony’s Lords Resistance Army (LRA). Read more

Obama & Brown: contrasting changes in Higher Education policies

Fresh higher education policies for Brown’s Britain and Obama’s America.
In a week of change in education policy on both sides of the Atlantic, Gordon Brown’s government appeared to be doing the opposite to Barack Obama in America. Whilst the new American premier is focusing on widening participation in education to combat the Credit Crunch, the British government appears to be scaling it back. Read more

Sussex student arrested in Greece

A Sussex postgraduate student was arrested and harassed by Greek police whilst visiting family in Athens over the Christmas holiday. Myrto, 26, was on her way to visit the bank with her mother on 15 December 2008 when she was accosted by police near the Athens General Police Directorate (GADA), who told them that they were not allowed to proceed any further. Having previously been on their way to the metro station, Myrto’s mother asked the police for directions whilst Myrto waited across the street. Read more

Controversial professor ‘banned from Sussex’ dies

‘War criminals on the lecture circuit!’ ran the headline on the student newspaper when Professor Samuel P. Huntington came to speak at Sussex in 1973. The controversial academic, who was was hounded off campus by 500 protesting students, has died aged 81. Read more

New international student legislation “appalling”

From the end of this month international students wanting to come to the UK to study will be subject to finger-printing, in a piloting of the biometric identity cards that will be introduced nationally from 2011. Read more

Sussex’s £3 million frozen in Iceland

The University of Sussex had £3 million frozen last week as news emerged that the University is one of the twelve UK establishments with money invested in one of the collapsed Icelandic banks. Read more

Union calls on Uni to revoke Mbeki doctorate

Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s former president and Sussex alumnus, has had an astonishingly bad year. First came a humiliating defeat last December, when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) elected Jacob Zuma, the country’s former deputy president, to replace him as the party’s leader. Mr Mbeki had sacked Mr Zuma in 2005 after his financial adviser was indicted in a corruption scandal. Then, on September 20th, the ANC decided he should be removed from office “in the interest of making the country move forward”. This put an end to Mr Mbeki’s presidency and he stepped down. Read more