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Teach-in and sit-in at Warwick Uni today

warwick student | 30.11.2010 19:46 | Education | Free Spaces | Public sector cuts | Birmingham

Warwick Uni students today held a day long teach-in followed by a sit-in protest occupying the busy public Art Centre foyer this evening, winning great public support.

Warwick Uni students today held a day long teach-in followed by a sit-in protest occupying the busy public Art Centre foyer this evening, getting great public support.

Lecturers and students from departments of sociology, german studies, and also the business school (!) ran talks and workshops from 10am to 4pm in two areas: "Economic Rationality" and "Social Movements". We talked and learnt about "the institutionalisation of the university", "creative accounting", and histories of student movements of the past. The teach-in concluded with an open discussion about the next steps for Warwick Against the Cuts.

Unfortunately, to be honest, Warwick students don´t seem to be revolting enough for a sustained occupation right now ... though with more people hearing and getting aware of the issues and getting in touch, that could change any minute. So after the teach-in about 30 people went to hold a sit down discussion and protest action in the busy foyer of the arts centre, where hundreds of kids, parents and grandparents were coming for a childrens´concert. The stressed looking arts centre manager ("just trying to run a business") needn´t have worried: the concert crowd were massively supportive of our cause, and some even joined in. We gave out hundreds of leaflets, chalked our feelings on the floor, had some good conversations and made great contacts. Whether or not Warwick wakes up, the struggle needs to be taken out of the university onto the streets, workplaces, and public spaces outside the campus bubble -- these cuts are an attack on all of us students, kids, pensioners, workers, shirkers, free and unfree spirits of all stripes ... now let´s start to build links, inspire each other, and resist.

Hasta La Victoria´s Secret!

warwick student
- Homepage: http://warwickagainstthecuts.wordpress.com/