Under occupation - Hetherington Research Club, Glasgow University.
Glasgow students lead the way
by Jack Ferguson - 11-02-2011
On 1 February, a group of students and supporters (including many from the SSP and SSY) entered and occupied the Hetherington Research Club at Glasgow University.
The HRC was one of the first casualties of the current round of cuts at the university. It was a students’ union for use by postgraduates and mature students, but was closed a year ago when the university refused continued funding.
After it had lain empty for a year, we received word that management intended to convert the building for office use, forever ending the prospect of the much loved club re-opening for student use. Our occupation is a last ditch effort to save the club. As such, it is the perfect target for an occupation, as it causes no disruption to students, but a lot to the plans of management.
The majority of student occupations at other universities take place in lecture theatres or court buildings. The logic behind these targets is clear - to win demands of university management it’s necessary to be somewhere that’s majorly disruptive and will force them to concede in order to get them out.
But what we’re trying to do here is different to many other occupations.
The Free Hetherington Club (as we’ve dubbed it) isn’t a protest; it’s a living demonstration of how people can come together and build a space that is democratically run, autonomous and non commercial. So far it has been an incredible success beyond what many of us could possibly have hoped for.
Our occupation has demands of the Uni management and the world at large (no cuts or redundancies; the Principal Anton Muscatelli to condemn cuts and take the average wage of a university worker or resign; and an end to all public sector cuts.) However, our single most important demand is something that nobody can give to us - it’s something we walked in and took for ourselves. The Free Hetherington Club.
It’s hard to communicate to people who haven’t been involved the sense of euphoria involved in this place. Something really exciting and unique is happening here. Every day the place is busy with students and members of the community coming in for (free) coffee and a bit to eat, a chance to meet people and get stimulating conversation, and to take in some of the hugely varied programme of events (film showings, guest lectures, skill sharing) that we’ve started to put together.