Management back-tracks over student suspensions

Last Wednesday 10 March, six students formerly suspended from the University of Sussex had their penalisations modified so as to permit them to continue with their academic studies.

Around 600 students rallied outside Sussex House last Thursday 11 March to protest against management’s decision to suspend six students following the previous week’s occupation. Photo: Sam Waterman

The students, dubbed ‘The Sussex Six’, were initially suspended on Friday 5 March by Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing. They each received a letter from the university stating they had been “positively identified” by the management as “leading participants” of the Stop the Cuts rally and occupation of Sussex House earlier that week. Read more

Stop the Cuts in pictures

University calls police on students who protest outside Sussex House against university cuts

Last Wednesday 3 March at 12.30pm students occupied Sussex House for five hours in protest against proposed course cuts and job losses. Police in a convoy of vans were called onto campus to contain the occupation and the accompanying rally.

University management seek to reduce the budget for 2009/10 by £3m on a turnover of £160m, with additional savings of up to £5m in 2010/11. As a result, 115 staff across campus face redundancy. A statement from the occupation said: “The job cuts would eradicate the environmental science degree program, and significantly reduce the size of the English, history, and life science departments. The student advice service, the crèche, security services and catering staff also face savage cuts.”
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Stop the Cuts – Protest Video (3/12/09)

A video showing the protest on the 3rd December 2009 against over 100 proposed job cuts at the University of Sussex.

Lies, spin and the fight against cut-backs

For those of you who have seen the University’s recent ‘response to financial challenges’ you could be forgiven for finding it laughable. Not that any of what it contains is funny, only that the language they have used to justify what amounts to massive staff and services cuts across campus, is duplicitous and quite frankly illogical.
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Labour party conference meets mass protest

Labour’s annual Brighton conference drew an estimated 1500 protestors last Sunday. A contingent of Sussex University students joined ranks with trade union groups, anti-capitalist marchers and unemployed members of the public, who all marched from Madeira drive, past the conference centre on the seafront, and on to the Peace Statue in Hove. Read more

Save Linguistics campaign: it’s not over yet

Around 100 students and staff gathered in library square on Friday 1 May to protest against the linguistics cuts proposed by the University of Sussex. It was the third in what campaigners are hoping will be a long line of protests, culminating with a final objection outside the School of Humanities ‘Teaching and Learning Committee’ meeting in week 5. Read more

End of Empire at Emmanuel College

Emmanuel college, Cambridge has dropped the name of ‘Empire’ given to this year’s May ball, following cries of protest from students at the university, who have deemed the controversial theme of colonialism ‘offensive’. Read more

Media ignores student protest

I can’t help but get the distinct feeling that something strange is going on.

The air seems thick with talk of Palestine, Israel, occupations, boycotts, support, debate, argument. Student and media occupation web-sites are popping up everywhere. Anything ranging from between 16 to 18 universities are, or have been, occupied in the recent weeks in solidarity with Palestine. Read more

Display of war photos ‘unethical’

Occupations based on humanitarian concerns are admirable, if only they were to truly exist.

Tuesday January 20 2009 saw the beginning of the occupation of Lecture theatre A2 on Sussex Campus by protesters affiliated to the group “Sussex Occupation”. This group, like many others at Universities across the UK, campaigned (amongst other issues) that their respective Academic Institution should release a political statement condemning the actions of the Israeli state in the Gaza conflict as a whole. Read more

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