Named and pictured: The Just Stop Oil students trashing your uni campuses this week

Just Stop Oil students have officially taken over uni campuses. This week has seen protests at 10 universities across the country with more expected to be hit over the coming weeks.

Just Stop Oil is an activist group which wants the UK to stop allowing the production of fossil fuels, which are a major contributor to climate change. The wave of protests at universities this week is part of a wider campaign to recruit students and academics to the movement with the aim of leading a march in London in November.

In a statement on their website, Just Stop Oil said: “Young people are sick and tired of waiting for meaningful action. We have been failed, left in a situation that is beyond fucked. But instead of backing down, we will unite, come together and fight back. Young people are stepping into civil resistance on campuses all over the country. We are calling on university leaders to do the right thing and join their students in civil resistance against this criminal government. It is time for students and faculty staff to march with Just Stop Oil this November in London, when we will end new oil and gas.”

The universities that have been hit so far this week are:

• Bristol
• Exeter
• Oxford
• Birmingham
• UCL
• Sussex
• Falmouth
• Manchester
• Cambridge
• Leeds

But who actually are the students turning your unis orange? These are the young people trashing all your uni campuses:

Arthur Clifton – UCL protestor

Arthur Clifton sprayed the iconic Portico pillars at UCL orange on Monday. He is an English lit grad from The University of Exeter. According to his LinkedIn, he is a “Student with a wide spread of various experiences” and a “committed worker with an excellent work ethic.”

At uni, he was a part of the LGBTQ+ society, the concert band and soul choir and the badminton club. He also plays the trumpet at grade eight and I’m not gonna lie he gives off major trumpet player vibes. He also said he “reads and writes in my spare time” because he was obvs just translating his GCSE French speaking exam when he wrote his LinkedIn profile.

Sam Holland – Leeds protestor

Leeds geography and economics student, Sam Holland, was arrested after he sprayed The University of Leeds’ Great Hall yesterday. One of the only students to actually protest at his own university (most tend to hit other UK unis to avoid expulsion from their own), Sam began studying at Leeds in 2021.

According to his LinkedIn, he worked at IKEA for two years before uni (I don’t know why but the IKEA to JSO pipeline seems to really make sense to me) and is a co-founder of a company called Oat Float. Oat Float is apparently a zero waste food delivery service based in Bristol converted from a milk float. Fun!

Chiara Sarti – Cambridge protestor

Yesterday, Chiara Sarti sprayed orange paint all over Cambridge’s King’s College. They are a PhD student studying computer science at The University of Cambridge and work as a member of the Cambridge Logical Structures Hub. Before starting at Cambridge, they did a degree in Maths at King’s College London.

Daniel Knorr – Oxford protestor

On Tuesday, Daniel Knorr alongside Noah Krane sprayed Oxford’s Radcliffe Camera with orange paint in protest. Daniel is 21 and studies biochemistry at Oxford. He was actually invited to have a stall at Oxford’s freshers’ fair this year and posted 17k leaflets to Oxford students through their college cubby holes.

Not a stranger to Just Stop Oil, Daniel is the same protestor who was carried off the pitch at Lords’s during the men’s cricket Ashes Test in June. He is being sentenced in two weeks time for this after being found guilt of aggravated trespass.

George Simonson – Exeter protestor

George Simonson sprayed Exeter’s The Forum in JSO signature orange on Tuesday. According to his LinkedIn, George graduated from studying mechanical engineering at The University of Edinburgh last summer. He has a “keen interest in the ways engineering can be used to combat climate change, particularly through waste management solutions.” He must’ve got bored of the waste management solutions and headed straight for the orange paint. When he was sat on top of the roof of the building, Ben said“I feel powerful right now,” and said he wanted to “put shockwaves through the system”.

Ben Meehan – Bristol protestor

Student member of Just Stop Oil, Ben Meehan sprayed orange paint over the Queen’s Building at The University of Bristol on Monday. Originally from Chester, he is a third year University of the West of England student studying filmmaking. According to his LinkedIn, he is looking to go into writing after university. Ben is also vegan and works for a fish and chips shop. At uni, he is part of the Socialist Workers Party and Vegan Society.

Holly Astle – Falmouth protestor

One of Falmouth’s protestors was Holly Astle who graduated from studying illustration at Falmouth in 2020. She is a freelance illustrator and has actually painted several murals around Falmouth. In a interview with Falmouth University she said: “I started my first mural after feeling the desperation of the ecological crisis. I wanted to create a message through my art that could be seen by a large number of people and that talked specifically about ocean pollution.” At least with her being an artist her orange paint on the buildings might actually be semi-decent!

This isn’t her first time Holly has protested with Just Stop Oil. She’s been seen at several protests including one in London last year.

Featured images via Just Stop Oil and Falmouth University. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Is YOUR uni next? All the uni campuses that Just Stop Oil has hit so far this week

• University College London’s iconic Portico pillars painted orange in Just Stop Oil protest

• University of Leeds’ Great Hall painted orange by Just Stop Oil protestors