Queen Mary students in teach-in

An Anti-cuts Teach-In was held at the Queen Mary campus on the 2nd March. The “community building” event, entitled “Whose University?” was said to have gone “very well”.

The Teach-In was an open event comprising 6 speakers, from a range of universities, discussing the hazardous effects of the coalition government’s recent cuts in funds.

Prolific Anti-Cuts demonstrator, Alex Chandran, described the Teach-In as “a forum where people could come together, an interactive space in which you could both voice your opinion and learn”.

With the aim of “liberating information and allowing it to spread and grow”, the speakers hoped to “organise” action in the attendees that would hopefully stretch to a national level.

The speakers included the ULU President, Clare Solomon, and Richard Saull of the Queen Mary branch of University and Colleges Union (UCU). An array of undergraduates, postgraduates, PHD students and lecturers from around the University of London attended the event.

The group discussed measures for solidarity with the UCU which recently announced plans for strike action on 22nd March

Meanwhile Jonathan Boulton, president of the Queen Mary Conservative Society, did not welcome the event. He challenged its open definition as a ‘Teach-In’, describing it as “fairly one-sided, politically speaking”.

“Those who attended to be taught may have found themselves at a disadvantage compared to those who attended to merely seek positive reinforcement for their views”.