#NancyOut Campaign hold sit-in outside Manchester Uni to protest no confidence decision

Last week the uni said Nancy Rothwell will stay on, despite 89 per cent of students voting for no confidence in her


Yesterday, the #NancyOut Campaign staged a sit-in in protest of Manchester Uni’s decision to overrule the student vote of no confidence in Nancy Rothwell and the other members of the uni’s senior leadership team.

The vote of no confidence took place last week and saw 89 per cent of students voted no confidence in the senior leadership team, however the Board of Governors released a statement which said: “Whilst our senior leaders haven’t got everything right, where that has been the case, they have led from the front by apologising and have always taken action to ensure lessons are learnt and improvements are made.”

On Friday, #NancyOut wrote an open letter to the university, saying that the university leadership “do not listen to democratic votes” and that they will “keep fighting”.

The sit-in was at the historic entrance to the university and the protesters sat two metres apart wearing cardboard masks of the faces of the Senior Leadership Team.

A spokesperson for the sit-in gave a speech, voicing how they felt that the university has failed its students and to further explain why the campaign are continuing to protest.

A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “We fully acknowledge these are challenging times for students and the University is fully committed to freedom of expression. Our students’ health and well-being is always of the utmost importance to us, this means that social distancing rules, and all other restrictions, must be followed to keep everyone safe.”

Featured image via Twitter @nancyoutuom.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

Manchester Uni says Nancy Rothwell will stay on, despite vote of no confidence

Here’s why I’m voting #NancyOut in the Vote of No Confidence in Nancy Rothwell

Here’s everything you need to know about the Vote of No Confidence in Nancy Rothwell