On day 38 of the encampment, students joined together to protest the University of Sydney Senate Finance Committee Meeting which has come after the camp decisively rejected the deal offered by Vice Chancellor Mark Scott on Tuesday May 28.
The students began at the encampment and marched to the Michael Spence building, where the breakfast meeting was supposedly being held. They could be heard chanting “divest, divest, your many many millions, your profits are covered in the blood of Palestinians.”
Speakers at today’s protest included Shovan Bhattarai, Jasmine Alrawi, Ishbel Dunsmore, Yasmine Johnson and Harrison Brennan.
Roughly 45 people were in attendance as Students For Palestine activist Bhattarai kicked off the proceedings to inform protestors about which management figures were in attendance at the meeting. They called out Mark Scott (Vice Chancellor), Wayne Andrews (Chief Financial Officer) and Belinda Hutchinson (Outgoing Chancellor and Chairman of Thales Australia).
According to the university website, USyd’s Financial Senate Committee discusses issues relating to the “financial performance, and sustainability of the university,” examining strategic proposals, commercial ventures and the university’s short-term portfolio. Bhattarai noted that these meetings are where executives discuss where the profits made off the backs of students and staff at the university will be invested.
“But we know where it goes”, they exclaimed, citing French weapons manufacturer, Thales, among other companies. CFO Wayne Andrews was also given a special shoutout for his comments about campers returning home at night.
Next, Dunsmore spoke to the kinds of deals the university has in place. Thales currently has a memorandum of understanding with the University which was re-signed in 2022. The University’s partnership with Thales involves funding PhD projects and industry placements, particularly in the faculty of Engineering. It was highlighted (and shamed) that Belinda Hutchinson, is the chairperson of the Thales Australia board.
Upon hearing from staff inside F23 that the protest could be heard inside, the protest shifted from the front sliding doors to the side entrance that was still being accessed. Students began chanting “Mark Scott, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.” Staff members inside the building were seen cheering and giving a thumbs up to the protest.
SRC President Harrison Brennan also spoke to key exchange partnerships between Sydney University and Israeli universities, such as Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design (College of the Arts). Brennan demanded the university sever ties with these programs to increase pressure on Israel. He also addressed the deal that was offered to Usyd students in exchange for the disbanding of their encampment, expressing his disdain.
Brennan, and the larger protest’s sentiment towards this deal was decisively negative, rejecting what has been termed an admission rather than a commitment to any further change and stated, “the deal did not even include disclosure”.
Scott’s email, distributed to all students May 28, outlined a series of proposed actions such as undertaking a review of the university’s investment portfolio “related to defence and securities industries prior to a Senate divestment discussion.”
Students then marched to the New Law building where aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin were participating as a key partner in the Space Law and Policy Conference. Protestors repeated their chants and called out panel members and participants for facilitating the University’s partnership with weapons manufacturers. The New Law building doors then became locked, and one Law faculty member came out to observe.
The students emphasised transparency, disclosure and student prioritisation as key goals of their protesting. They also signalled upcoming rally’s including at Thales headquarters, and a Student General Meeting next semester. After the massive turnout at the University of Queensland SGM, the USyd students maintained an invigorated ambition to combat the disconnect between management agenda and student interest.
