Warwick for Free Education occupy University House

Warwick for Free Education have occupied University House this afternoon to protest the removal of maintenance grants, the Prevent campaign and the injunction on occupation style protest.

A group of students from Warwick for Free Education entered University House at around 2pm this afternoon and managed to get into the finance office.

Once in the office, the group started an occupation style demonstration to protest for “free and open education”. The group have stated on their twitter page that this occupation is “indefinite” and have also commented that the occupiers are in “very high spirits”.

The protesters are currently standing in the finance office, holding banners with their name ‘Warwick For Free Education’ and another which reads ‘grants not debts’

The group has said the protest is ‘indefinite’ Photo: Warwick for Free Education

The group have stated on their website that they intended to “disrupt the finance office” with their protest. The group has stated that it believes that the University’s finance office is complicit in the planned removal of student grants.

They added that the finance office is “complicit in the deterioration of our University into a mere business, and must be interrupted.”

According to a spokesperson from the group, the protest is aimed “To oppose the scrapping of maintenance grants, and the inequality that entails. To oppose the scrapping of FOI’s and the opacity and marketization of the University this promotes.”

I am still at my desk as are a number of other colleagues. Some have moved to less noisy locations.

Peter Dunn, director of Press and Policy

The also are showing their opposition to “The current injunction against occupations so that we may protest freely, and to oppose the racist and bigoted agenda of Prevent.”

Currently, the University has a court injunction against occupation style protests in almost all University owned property.

It is unclear at the moment whether Warwick for Free Education are breaking this injunction by occupying University House.

A spokesperson for the Free Education group told the Boar: “Obviously the injunction is an attempt to scare students away from protest, but we will not stop campaigning until the injunction is lifted.”

The spokesperson added: “If we let the injunction inhibit our protesting we would be giving into the university repressive’s tactics and we will not allow that to happen.”

The injunction is an attempt to scare students away from protest, but we will not stop campaigning until the injunction is lifted.

Warwick for Free Education

Peter Dunn, director of press and policy at the University, said the the University were monitoring the protest.

Mr Dunn commented: “We will always take a carefully considered view of how [the University] should respond to any individual protest on campus.”

He added: “I am still at my desk as are a number of other colleagues. Some have moved to less noisy locations.”

This protest follows a series of protests which have been held by the group over recent years.