“We shall not settle for institutional rot”: UC SJP responds to UC’s statement

Source: Supplied / UC SJP - Mia Anderson.

Following the 27-hour Undercroft encampment, and the UC branch of a national student protest for Palestine on Thursday, the University of Canterbury has released a response statement, which University of Canterbury Students for Justice for Palestine (UC SJP) says is subject to “institutional rot”.

UC SJP said they were sent a draft statement from the Vice-Chancellor on Wednesday following negotiations with UC’s senior leadership. This prompted the end of the UC SJP encampment on “good faith”, but UC SJP responded to the draft with “dissatisfaction”.

“We expressed that our attendees were extremely disappointed and distressed that their university did not condemn the ongoing genocide nor the destruction of its fellow universities in Gaza… Ultimately, they released their statement […] without taking aboard SJP participants’ concerns,” the group said.

“Despite its limited scope and failure to address many of UC SJP’s issues, UC has still opted for a quiet and limited release.”

UC’s statement, released on Friday, read, “The University has a long history in supporting the community and in many instances UC students have been at the forefront of such engagement with communities.” 

“UC values its engagement with students and the student voice is an important consideration in our academic endeavors.”

Terms outlined in the statement include UC’s concern about global conflicts impacting students, and that it “wishes to see the restoration of human rights for all people so they can learn free from risk of harm.” Also included is its “full membership of the Scholars at Risk Network”, as a contribution to this.

UC stated that university funds are in line with Policy requirements. It disclosed “two separate funds where wider investments are made,” one being the University of Canterbury Trust Funds and the other being the University of Canterbury Foundation.

It also mentions an ethical investment policy which states that funds “should not directly be invested” in tobacco, armaments, or the gaming industry.

UC SJP say their campaign is only beginning and that their demands “go further”.

The demands that UC SJP sent to UC on Tuesday include: “complete” and permanent financial transparency; a statement condemning the destruction of Gaza’s universities; for UC to offer scholarships and positions to Palestinian scholars and academics; and complete amnesty to all students.

The group told Canta that financial transparency from the University has begun, and that the statement is a “first step”.

They also said that the University had informed UC SJP that UC’s academics would promote the Scholars at Risk program to seek Palestinian applicants.

UC SJP expressed “disappointment” towards UCSA President Luc MacKay, calling his lack of presence at the nationwide student protest on Thursday “odd”.

“We are disappointed that UCSA President Luc MacKay only observed the end of the protest and did not join; given that he had repeatedly visited SJP’s [Tuesday and Wednesday] protest.”

When asked if he had any involvement in the nationwide protests on Thursday, MacKay said no.

"In my role I'm ensuring that I'm listening more than anything, making sure that I'm hearing what is going on. Although I didn't protest specifically, I was there in attendance listening to what was going on, taking notes and observing, hearing the perspectives of the students,” he said.

When asked for his response to UC’s statement, MacKay said he thought it was positive, resulting in both parties being happy.

“I think it’s really awesome to see the university continuously engaging with its students in all forms, I am very happy that a resolution was able to be reached,” he said.

"When I talk about a resolution, I'm talking about a resolution to the initial demands made by SJP. Obviously, there are more demands from the group, and I expect that the University will continue to listen to those voices of students who are protesting,” MacKay said.

Towards the end of its statement, the University said it “has a long history of supporting students impacted by all forms of violence and will continue to work with affected students, student clubs and societies to support those impacted.”

Canta heard a rumour that the University had approached the courts in relation to the protestors, and asked UC if this was true. The University said, “There is no substance to the accusation that we have or are approaching the high-court to get a trespass order.”