Reprinted from the Capital Times. Organising meeting 5pm Wednesday, Collins Room, Student Union Building, Victoria University of Wellington.
ONCE upheld as the bastion of liberal thinking in Wellington, Victoria University is turning into a capitalist business, say past students.
Workers Party parliamentary aspirant and political activist Don Franks has had a long association with the university. He was a student in 1968, worked as a cleaner there during the 1990s, and was the event-coordinator for the Students’ Association for 18 months. He says it’s clear the university no longer tolerates political dissent, and the barring of two former students following a protest against fee rises recently is the clincher.
“Suddenly people are booted off the premises. Just about every student is pissed off about the fee rises. What I’ve observed is things tightening up in an ugly way,” Franks says.
He says this extends to the programmes the university offers – a dwindling number of “more liberal studies” and an increase in business related degrees.
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