Academics in Cambridge held a three minute silence outside Senate House to protest against what some termed “destructive” changes to higher education in the UK.
Over 300 people attended the protest on Monday at midday, including tutors and support staff, many in their caps and gowns. Staff from Anglia Ruskin University were also present.
The protest was organised by CACHE, the Cambridge Academic Campaign for Higher Education, who described the “symbolic” protest as a “gesture of dignified opposition” to government policies. These include raising the cap on tuition fees to £9,000 a year, and the recent announcement that universities’ budgets would be cut by nearly £400m a year before they can begin to charge higher fees.
Many of those present were also dissatisfied with Cambridge University’s response. Jason Scott-Warren, a Senior Lecturer in English, said that, “The fact that our higher administration has largely endorsed the principles underpinning the Browne Review, and its stony silence in the face of recent cuts, exposes deep flaws in the way that this university functions, or fails to function, as a democratic institution.”
Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz called the changes “concerning” in his New Year address, but emphasised that, “even with a corresponding increase in fees, the costs of a Cambridge undergraduate education will still greatly exceed the income received to pay for it.”
Not all academics in attendance opposed Cambridge’s stance. Baron Rees of Ludlow, Master of Trinity College, commented, “I support the way the University has handled the situation and the Vice Chancellor’s Statement,” whilst also expressing his “concern that there is no money under the new system, especially for humanities.”
Sinéad Garrigan Mattar, a Fellow of Girton College and one of the organisers of the protest, said, “We thought it was important to show that […] students are not alone in their opposition to the dismantling of the public university.”
However, the reaction from Cambridge students to the academics’ action has been mixed.
Esther Harding, an Education & English student at Homerton, agreed that “it’s nice to know that the Dons actually give a damn.”
Nonetheless, she was sceptical about the effectiveness of the protests. “I spend that time in the bathroom cleaning my teeth in silence… but we’re all at a loss as to what else to do apart from suggesting that the dons go on a drunken rampage and smash a few buildings,” she said.
Ben Sharples, a student at Queen’s, was also cynical. “For Cambridge intellectuals revered for their powers of rational argument in speech and writing, simply shutting up for a bit is as illogical as it is ineffective,” he commented.
One second year was in agreement with the “different tone of protest”, and said that despite the fact that the silence wasn’t well publicised amongst students, “it is important that it was organised at all”.
The protest was also described by a member of CACHE as a “curtain-raiser” for the discussion that began on Tuesday in the don’s parliament, Regent House. It will consider whether the University has taken a strong enough stance against higher fees and national changes to higher education.
There has been a lack of similar action in Oxford. Academics from both universities were keen to stress that this was not due to differences between the two.
An Oxford University spokesperson told Cherwell that “Discussions are still very much ongoing about what the University will do when the reforms to higher education come into place for entry in 2012” in consultation with “All relevant committees and [the] Congregation as a whole.”
They added, “The University is committed to free speech and supports people’s right to protest and make their views heard.”
When asked by Cherwell whether the Oxford Education Campaign, the equivalent to CACHE, would be planning something similar, member Kit Jackson cited his opinion regarding the “largely practical issues” of coordinating Oxford dons.
Kate Tunstall, Fellow and Tutor in French at Worcester, who has been active in both the OEC and the Worcester College Against Cuts group said of last year’s protests, “UCL, Cambridge and others organised sustained occupations; the Oxford Education Campaign went for a short, sharp, spectacular, iconic occupation along the lines of the Italian students in Pisa, who occupied the Leaning Tower. It’s about having multiple tactics.”
