Marching down Hardman Street
Following betrayal by the NUS rep, students only found out about the cuts when they were announced in the Daily Post on 13th March, and today was their first public response.
Acting independently of 'their' union, which stands exposed as a tool of JMU bosses, students marched from the student union building on Maryland Street, to the V.C.'s office in Rodney Street. There they were met with dust swept up by Brown's car, a two man security team, and a police officer. The security guards initially refused protesters entry to the forecourt, but relented and allowed them as far as the front door. The group heard speeches and chanted for about twenty minutes, before moving on to the Dean Walters building on Upper Duke Street, where many of the subjects facing the axe are currently located. Chants of "they say cut back, we say fight back", "whose education? our education!", and "students and workers, unite and fight" drew many people to the windows!
At present, the student group is demanding:
- no course cuts - all cut courses with UCAS applications to be offered in the prospectus for 2010/11
- no job losses - laid off temporary contract staff to be offered reinstatement, with written guarantee of no job cuts for two academic years
- no closed door decisions - V.C. to give a written proposal of how programme planning will be democratised
Click here for more photos.
Homepage: