Statement from the Free Hetherington

[freeHetheringtonANNOUNCE]

On the 23rd February all students and staff at Glasgow University
received an email from senior management detailing events that have
occurred surrounding the student occupation of the Hetherington
Research Club.

This email is seriously misleading and potentially defamatory and we
at the Free Hetherington feel you, the students and staff of this
university, deserve a comprehensive explanation of these events.

University management have seen fit to send a campus-wide email
condeming the student sit-in of the Hetherington, feigning reluctant
necessity as a result of recent events. This email is their first and
only response to the student and staff call for negotiation regarding
the Hetherington and planned cuts to university services and courses.

We hope through the following to inform you of the truths behind the
statements the senate and court have made, and we would be happy to
hear your views over a cup of (free!) tea or coffee at the Free
Hetherington.

We contacted university management at the beginning of the occupation
with our demands and did not receive a response. We remain keen to
meet with them. Prior to their general email communication a process
had been initiated by security staff on 23rd February and we expected
to be meeting imminently with security staff. However the occupation
has had no direct communication from university management at any
point. We were therefore surprised to receive an email from the
Senior Management Group of The University of Glasgow directed not at
the occupiers, but at all students and staff. We have not had any
direct communication from them outlining the issues as they have
perceived them, any formal requests from them, nor any suggested means
of entering into a dialogue with them.

We reiterate our demands:
1) Maintained freedom of access to the building, on the terms of the
occupants.
2) The Hetherington Research Club to be returned to democratic control
by students and staff, with the return of the block grant. All those
who lost their jobs as a result of the closure should be offered their
jobs back.
Anton Muscatelli should condemn the cuts and student fees and take the
average wage of university staff, or resign.
3) No cuts at Glasgow University. We demand no job cuts, no course
cuts, no cuts to student services, no cuts to teaching budgets and an
end to the voluntary severance scheme.
4) Glasgow University must become a democratic place of lifelong
learning for all residents of Glasgow.
5) We demand investment in higher education and wider public services
and an end to the Government’s programme of austerity.

We do not believe these demands impossible or unreasonable, in fact we
consider them essential to any decent society. We are still committed
to highlighting and campaigning against the destructive nature of
multi-million pound cuts at Glasgow University, as proposed by senior
management, and as announced by the Herald (senior management did not
consider these proposals important enough to warrant an email to all
staff and students.) We have also shown support to the union which
most academic staff are members of, the UCU, and support them in their
defence of all our courses and jobs, and will continue to do so during
any industrial action they may choose to take.

Since opening on Tuesday 1st February the Free Hetherington has hosted
a range of successful events attracting a wide range of different
people. We have been glad that so many people have found us a useful
and stimulating venue - as detailed by reports in newspapers, radio
and on the television - and have given us support with their time and
other contributions. These events have included guest lectures,
tutorials, student society events, discussions, workshops, film
showings, pub quizzes, poetry open mic nights, and cooking demos. As
well as these events many hundreds of people have used the Free
Hetherington to study, to read and to have a coffee and a chat. All
the while we have endeavoured to highlight the effects of the cuts on
campus and beyond.

As regards the facts of the matter, which at points differ from the
claims made in the Court email:

- Our demands, as restated above, have at no point, in versions
publicised or those delivered to management, included anything
concerning Egypt and the ongoing issues in that country. We are
against cuts to courses at Glasgow University, in wider society, and
the attempted full-scale reconfiguration of the nature of education in
this country.

- On the 3rd of February an event occurred which will be familiar to
everyone who has run a student venue, or a pub anywhere in the
country. A drunk man unknown to us attempted to gain access to the
Free Hetherington, and we refused him entry, as the university would
expect of us. When he persisted he was stopped from doing so by
members of the Free Hetherington’s own security team. He became more
aggressive, and a member of the campus security guard intervened.
Those involved have co-operated with all requests for witness
statements from the police. Other such events have been dealt with
without issue, including verbal abuse and violence from a minority of
the student body towards those in the building at the time.

- On the 21st of February security staff informed members of the Free
Hetherington that damage had been caused to doors between 13 and 14
University Gardens. The members of the Free Hetherington strongly
condemn the damage done to the doors, and the space upstairs.
Incidents of this nature have occurred in the past and by no means is
the Hetherington exceptional amongst university establishments in this
regard. In the past, large club-nights repeatedly had similar problems
as a result of the internal door between 13 and 14 university Gardens
being a fire escape.

- We have evidence that suggests this event is connected with a
similar event which occurred on our second day in the building. The
occupiers informed the university security staff of the damage, and
offered to pay for any repairs, but this offer was refused by
management. In this latest incident nothing was taken, however it was
understandably distressing for the occupants of 14 University Gardens
that their office space was subjected to such an attack. In addition
paperwork from the Hetherington was left around the vandalised
offices. It is certainly an odd way for a random vandal or thief to
act, and we believe it to have been done by someone antagonistic to
the occupation as a potential act of sabotage. We are currently
investigating whether we have any witnesses and, as we have previously
stated, we will work with any police investigation.

On being informed of the latest event the Free Hetherington organised
an emergency meeting to discuss the incident and the steps that could
be taken to avoid it. This meeting was well attended and lasted nearly
two hours, highlighting the seriousness with which we view the
incident. Since being informed we have worked with the staff of 14
University Gardens to ensure that the issue is resolved. Action has
been taken which includes installing an alarm on the door, and placing
people permanently on the door until the alarm is installed. The Free
Hetherington has also reviewed its general security policy and will
continue to review this policy regularly. These actions reflect the
desire of those involved in the Free Hetherington to continue to
operate it as a free open space both for those involved in the
occupation and the staff working in adjacent buildings, as it has been
over the past three weeks, and will continue to be.

We believe that the university’s actions in sending this email, not to
those it addresses but to the whole student body, with a series of
distortions, and after three weeks of refusing to discuss any way to
move forward, shows a lack of even perfunctory consultation or an
authentic desire for reconciliation. We are not here on the sufferance
of the university; the building remains open.

The Free Hetherington