Uni pursues legal action as Richard Roberts’ occupation continues

A sign has appeared on the wall of the Richard Roberts building detailing plans for a court hearing, following the continued occupation of Richard Roberts by Free University protestors. 

The tresppass hearing will be held on Tuesday in a bid to reclaim back the uni buildings. After a meeting at midday on Friday, the protesters occupying the buildings resolved to stay “indefinitely”, but hope to leave on their own terms. 

Defending the protesters will be current Education Officer Minesh Parekh, who intends to have the Student’s Union buildings exempted from the possession order being sought by the University, which despite being owned by the Uni, are leased to the Student’s Union.

The hearing will take place on Tuesday

The group, mainly composed of members of The Free University of Sheffield remain optimistic that the university will head their demands, particularly for Vice-Chancellor consultation. This is intended to open a discussion, as they believe that the students and the management have similar viewpoints on issues such as the Higher Education Framework, and that Sheffield is one of the only Universities where such bold steps can be taken to combat the perceived threat from the Green Paper and commercialisation.  

The group is keen to emphasise their desire for classes to resume, stating: “We are not trying to disrupt our fellow students’ education.” The activists claim that the cancelling of seminars in unoccupied rooms in the building was designed to isolate the protest, and that staff were not informed of the reasons for venue changes.

The University has  not responded as to whether lectures and seminars may be resumed without consequence for lecturers in the occupied buildings, although some lecturers have.

A group photograph showing the occupying students

Chris Saltmarsh, a Politics and Philosophy finalist and SU Presidential candidate commented: “University management are disingenuous bureaucrats who care more about insulating students from criticism of them than their own students’ welfare. They also purport to support our demands and our right to protest while simultaneously taking the occupiers to court to evict them from the occupation, and making no progress on meaningful action against PREVENT, TEF and casualisation.”

The University has issued the following statement: “The University understands that the increasing marketisation of higher education is righty an issue very close to the hearts of many of its staff and students and along with Universities across the country, we have outlined these concerns in detail as part of our response to the Government Green Paper on Higher Education.

“As a University, we fully support freedom of speech and the right of students to express their views peacefully within the law. The University recognises the commitment of the occupiers to peaceful protest, however cannot condone occupation of a building that could cause disruption to our staff and students.”

Musician Grace Petrie post-performance endorsing the campaign