Stratford Protestors ‘Occupy’ UCL

UCL students have occupied the Wilkins Garden Room to protest the university’s proposals to bulldoze the Carpenters Estate in Stratford, making way for a new multi-million pound campus.

Michael Chessum, ULU President, announced the occupation on facebook last night, saying:

“Eviction is a necessarily a violent process, and as such, UCL is about to violently possess the homes of hundreds of people; an issue intimately bound to University funding and tuition fees. UCL students reject this behaviour as undemocratic and unacceptable and in response, have chosen to #Occupy.”

One of the protestors, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Tab:

“We are trying to begin a debate about the new campus that UCL are building in Stratford. Newham Council want to sell the estate which the campus would be built on to UCL, but that means that Newham Council will have to evict quite a lot of families from their homes. What we want to to do is start a debate about the ethics of building a new campus there.”

However it seems that radical change is off to a slow start. An observer, who has been inside the occupation, told The Tab that there are only, “3-5 people there, with one guy asleep on the floor.”

The Occupiers are currently making posters for an exhibition about the myths of Stratford.

Who says the Occupy Movement doesn’t have a sense of humour? The protestors have put up a tongue in cheek poster for Malcolm Grant’s birthday, urging him to “stop evicting people”.

Hil-ar-ious

Keep checking back with The Tab as we update you on the unfolding Occupation.