If it’s true that you haven’t had an authentic post-GFC London experience until you’ve been in the midst of a student protest, then I have finally qualified.
What started, on the evening of 7th June 2011, as “The Arts in Britain”, a conversation at Foyles book store about the state of arts and humanities funding in light of current and impending government cuts…
(Above, L – R: Mick Gordon, A. C. Grayling, Al Senter. Below, far right: Christopher Frayling)
…rapidly descended into a morass of orchestrated heckling from certain vocal members of the audience, before ending with this:
Admittedly, this was mild as student protests go.
A. C. Grayling, as Master and figurehead of The New College of the Humanities, copped an earful from angry students as he tried valiantly to stick to the advertised topic of discussion. To a lesser extent, theatre director Mick Gordon and former Arts Council chairman Christopher Frayling were also under attack, although Frayling did his best to steer the conversation when protesters’ insults and interjections made it impossible for the beleaguered Grayling to speak freely. Arts journalist Al Senter, chair of the discussion, largely failed to control the situation.
The recently unveiled New College of the Humanities has been accused of plagiarism of course materials, as well as a general charge of elitism over its £18,000 p.a. tuition fees. Doubts have also been raised about the amount of time big name lecturers will devote to students.
I am a big fan of A. C. Grayling, and whatever the pros and cons of this new higher education venture, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the man. He did attempt to get the event back on track, offering to speak to protesters afterwards and address their concerns. However, a cannister of red smoke caused the evacuation of the venue as soon as the formal discussion ended.
Protesters lingered outside, hoping for a glimpse of their quarry, but he was most likely spirited away by security. They instead busied themselves with media interviews, and heated arguments over the effectiveness of their disruptive intervention.
Will the New College of the Humanities be over before it has even begun?
johng
June 8, 2011
Its about stealing from the public sector. It must be stopped. Its an act of violence and vandalism in a climate where violence and vandalism has become normative. Its utter barbarism. Enough!
The Byte
June 8, 2011
Thank you for your comments, for which I have a lot of sympathy. I’ll be very interested to see what becomes of the NCH….
Heathcote Ruthven
June 8, 2011
“Will the New College of the Humanities be over before it has even begun?”
YES! I hope.
Grayling might have merits, but his college doesn’t. It’s a big danger for the whole university community. There was been widespread reaction to this in the three or four days it has been public – literally 100s of blogs from all sorts of types all over the fence, 100s of people attending a meeting in Bloomsbury against it and a very fantastical direct action on his debate (“I’m glad to see the art of rhetoric is still very much alive!” – said Frayling towards the end (before the smokebomb)).
Perhaps most importantly though UCU have said they are going to ballot to graylist New Collage Of Humanities (no lectures there from UCU people, no lecturers from NCH able to talk at UCU universities, no contribution to journals that they create and other forms of academic isolation). That might sound extreme, but there is very good reason for it. Firstly This kind of neoliberal profiteering totally undercuts other institutions economically and academically. Secondly it creates the kind of two tier divide with all the famous, popular academics (that look ace on the C.V. and know some great contacts) teach the super rich, whilst lesser known academics teach at a low standard state until they manage to get some acclaim and disappear into the realms of wealthy universities. That’s a scary, and in some countries already real, vision of a far worse, less far and less efficient system than our own. People from all walks of academic life are willing to go to extreme measures to nip this in the bud. Quite rightly too!