Stirling students stand up to uni chiefs with campaign

These lefties are serious

campus david mundt Hugh Cullen protest rights SSP stirling Stirling Uni stirling union student Take Back Stir

A new student campaign is saying enough is enough to Stirling University’s senior bosses.

Take Back Stirling Uni has been set up in the wake of the uni’s failure to respond to an open letter from the Scottish Socialist Party society which raised concerns about issues including rising rent costs on campus, staff redundancies and the salaries of the senior management.

The SSP Society released a statement to the Tab saying: “Stirling University has a proud tradition of left-wing activism and a student base that consistently refuses to accept authority.”

The SSP society have previously sent an open letter to Stirling’s Gerry McCormac

The new group is looking to encourage student activism to fight to make Stirling University a more open and democratic institution.

Speaking for the group, sociology student Dave Mundt said: “So far Gerry McCormac and senior management have refused to make any comment following the open letter.

“Now the student body is ready to mobilise and will not waver in the face of authority. Students are now engaging with what was outlined in the letter, sparking a resurgence in student activism.”

Dave Mundt previously sent an open letter to Gerry McCormac, which was ignored.

The 19-year-old added: “If the university think they can ignore us they are wrong; we will be noisy and absolute in our determination to see our demands are met. We will be in the atrium throughout the coming weeks and hope students can join us in our fight!”

Hugh Cullen, who is chair of the Stirling University SSP, also commented: “It’s great that we are collaborating with other left wing and political societies, our agenda isn’t about self-promotion or obscure ideological differences, it’s about being pragmatic and trying to make Stirling University fairer.

Hugh is concerned about Stirling University taking advantage of vulnerable students with high rent costs

“The university’s top tier takes advantage of students who are moving away from home with unaffordable accommodation prices in a country where university is meant to be free while, at the same time squandering our cash on their own homes.”

The 20-year-old Politics student added: “It’s great to see students standing up for themselves and taking action against the people in charge. It’s us after all who pay their salaries so it’s us that they should answer to. What we want to see now is a reply from the principle and to start the ball rolling on getting this sorted out.”

Only time will tell if the group really can get through to the top brass at the university and force change.