OPEN LETTER TO PROVOST – CAMPUS PROTESTS

OPEN LETTER TO UCL PROVOST – Engage with student protestors, don’t misrepresent them!

Members of staff from across UCL have come together to stand in solidarity with the students who have camped on UCL grounds in support of Palestine. We are particularly troubled by some of the language employed by the Provost in response to a protest that took place on June 4.

The Provost is in a unique position as the leader — the Provost and President — of UCL. But last week he used his position and privileged access to the all-staff email list to publicly accuse a student of assault. In addition, he uncritically repeated a ‘report’ of an alleged ‘anti-semitic trope’ being uttered by those protesting.

This is first and foremost a problem of due process. For any investigation against a student, the Provost will have been advised that he must not prejudice the investigation by making such a statement. Indeed, students have denied the charge of assault, and videos published online seem to show a different picture of those events than that presented by the Provost.

We have since heard that a further six students have been partially suspended from College for minor offences.

This move to discredit the wider student encampment movement by making an example of students is part of a wider attempt to silence all those who have been outspoken in their support for Palestinian freedom and opposition to Israeli occupation and genocide.

We note that even now, UCL management are reluctant to use the terms ‘Palestine’, ‘Palestinians’ and ‘genocide’, preferring instead sanitised language such as ‘difficult times’ and ‘Israel-Gaza conflict’. 

We are reminded of UCL’s proudly stated commitment to ‘disruptive thinking’ and the study and open discussion of views amongst our vibrant staff and student community. Attempts to suppress protests are in clear breach of these very commitments. We also remind UCL that it (along with other universities) cannot claim to support free speech whilst restricting the right to protest. It has weighty obligations in this regard, as set out by legal experts, including one of our own law professors.

We remain supportive of our many brave students and their commitment to protest, and urge management to engage with them in a constructive manner. We further urge the Provost to listen to the students’ rational and well-reasoned requests: Disclose, Divest, Condemn, and Pledge.

UCL UCU Executive Committee
https://ucl-ucu.org.uk/
@ucl_ucu