Updates on Middlesex from Peter Hallward & what to do now

update from middlesex from peter hallward

A quick update on the situation at Middlesex:

On Wednesday 6 May, after a rally in support of the occupation of the boardroom at Trent Park, the occupation expanded to take over the whole of the main building on the Trent Park campus (the Mansion building). The students explained their intentions and demands in an open letter, at http://savemdxphil.com/2010/05/07/open-letter-to-middlesex-staff-faculty-and-students/.

On Thursday afternoon 7 May, Middlesex administrators finally met with the students (on condition that no member of staff attend as a silent observer); they apparently confirmed their decision to close the undergraduate programmes, and to freeze recruitment to the graduate programmes. The meeting ended in an impasse.

Since Wednesday evening, the students have been organising a series of informal events in the occupied Mansion building: improvised concerts, discussions, lectures on a variety of topics (Spinoza, Lacan, student and university politics, the mobilisation in Iran…), political film screenings, etc. The current schedule is posted near the top of http://savemdxphil.com/. If you can get to Trent Park this weekend it’s become an interesting place to visit.

The Guardian has a story on the protests and the occupation, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/07/philosophy-cuts-closures-middlesex-university.

The Facebook site has a few photos, etc., http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119102561449990&v=photos, and now has more than 10,000 members.

Some of the many letters of support we’ve received are now posted at http://savemdxphil.com/letters-of-support/, and we’ll be posting more letters over the weekend; it’s been impossible to keep up with the flood of email. Some of the most recent letters have been signed by entire departments.

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What can you do?

Sign the petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-middlesex-philosophy.html

Join the FB group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119102561449990&ref=ts

Write a letter (or lots of letters!) to:

Michael Driscoll, vice-chancellor of the university – m.driscoll@mdx.ac.uk
Waqar Ahmad, deputy vice-chancellor, research and enterprise – w.ahmad@mdx.ac.uk
Margaret House, deputy vice-chancellor, academic – m.house@mdx.ac.uk
Ed Esche, dean of the School of Arts & Education – e.esche@mdx.ac.uk

m.driscoll@mdx.ac.uk; w.ahmad@mdx.ac.uk; m.house@mdx.ac.uk; e.esche@mdx.ac.uk

Keep up to date on the Save Middlesex Philosophy Webpage: http://savemdxphil.com/