LET SCA STAY down but not out.

LET SCA STAY down but not out.

BY LUCAS BAIRD
LET SCA STAY has declared that a police intervention into their record breaking occupation of the University of Sydney’s Rozelle campus will not end their protests regarding the Sydney College of the Arts (SCA).
The group has claimed they have further action planned to protest funding and staff cuts, in addition to the SCA’s proposed move to the Camperdown campus.
“Part of having an occupation is an assumption that at some point you are going to get kicked out,” said LET SCA STAY spokesperson, Thandiwe Bethune.
“Now we are just planning for future events […] We don’t know if it is going to be a rally or another vigil outside an arts event.”
‘We are hoping to do stuff with the [Museum of Contemporary Art Australia], but for now it is more about finding people to help us.”
However, the University of Sydney has warned against further protests on campus, indicating that they have “the right to exclude anyone who has been party to the occupation from its campuses” and that “any further attempt to occupy could see the University exercise this right”.
A spokesperson for the University said that they were reluctant to take action against the protesters, as students have the right to protest peacefully.
But after the occupiers showed “little respect for people or the laws governing safety for themselves or others” and they received complaints from students and staff “distressed” by the occupations, they were left no choice.
Ms Bethune said that the University’s actions reflect more on them than the protesters.
“They didn’t give anybody the chance to come out peacefully […] They didn’t give anyone the time to get their stuff together, one of the occupiers weren’t even allowed to put their shoes on.”
“This is the second time [The University] has gone around destroying our art and actively tearing it down in this really aggressive attitude towards the students.”
“It was just aggressive and manipulative tactics from the university to scare people from not speaking out.”
Ms Bethune also claimed that she was not scared of being excluded from University grounds. She said that it wouldn’t be “strategic” for the University to follow through with that threat after previously affirming the student’s right to protest.

You May Also Like

Comments are closed.