Business student hive and home to the $6 ginger fish deal, Abercrombie Building (ABS) will be renamed to the Belinda Hutchinson building this semester. Signage reflecting this name change is to be installed at the building later this year.
This building on the Darlington campus was likely named in line with its presence in the Abercrombie precinct.
The new name invokes USyd’s 18th Chancellor, Belinda Hutchinson, who stepped down earlier this year. The last Chancellor to have a building named after them which still stands is Mungo MacCallum, whose term concluded in 1936.
According to a University of Sydney spokesperson, “the University Senate has approved the renaming of the Abercrombie Building to the Belinda Hutchinson Building to honour her considerable service to the University.”
During her tenure as the University of Sydney’s Chancellor, Belinda Hutchinson also acted as Board Chair of weapons manufacturer Thales, a corporation which supplies war material to Israel. The University of Sydney’s research partnership with Thales is subject to ongoing criticism from student organisations and activists, particularly Students Against War and Students For Palestine.
In 2021, the University of Sydney renamed the F23 Building to the Michael Spence Building after the termination of Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence’s term.
Grace Street, SRC Education Officer, spoke to Honi Soit about this decision. “Commemorating Belinda Hutchinson is a slap in the face to students who have been involved in the “Thales off Campus” campaign through the Education Action Group since 2023. It directly works against our ongoing fight to cut ties with Thales, who create the Watchkeeper 35 drones used to surveil and kill Palestinians in Gaza. To have a popular building named after someone whose legacy lies with their ties to this company is to solidify and legitimise the partnerships between the corporate university to the war machine.”
Amended 27 August 11.06pm.
