Students have ended their occupation of the management offices at Brighton University after 11 days of protest about proposed staff redundancies.
An unidentified group of five students who were occupying the eighth floor of the university’s Cockcroft Building evacuated the premises yesterday afternoon (Sunday 4 June) when the fire alarm went off.
After three students left the occupation early, the remaining two students cut short their sit in at around 4pm yesterday because of the fire risk.
The group originally said that it would not leave until university bosses agreed to their demand to cancel 110 proposed staff redundancies.
Brighton University said that it dealt with the occupiers “respectfully” and with “great care” despite damage to the offices and disruption to staff.
A statement from the group of students said: “Due to the fire risk, we left the building as quickly as possible.
“We were outraged to find that security at both doors not only failed to alert us but had left immediately, again showing a massive lack of care from the employees of the university.
“Furthermore, security confused us as to the whereabouts of the nearest fire exit and left without notifying us or even opening the fire doors.
“Unfortunately, given the poor treatment by security and university staff throughout the occupation, we are not surprised that we were abandoned during such a dangerous situation.
“We are extremely sad to have left the occupation early and against our will. We were fully prepared to stay until our demand was met.
“Our morale and motivation is still high and we know that the pressure on the university management will continue to build after this occupation.”
Last week, the university said that it had sought a court order to remove the occupiers.
Students celebrated last Tuesday (30 May) after the university withdrew an application for the power to arrest the students in court.
It is unclear whether the university will take disciplinary actions against the students involved.
The occupiers said that they faced homophobic and verbal abuse from university employees, as well as being “flooded” with raw sewage because of faulty toilets.
The university said: “In the early hours of Thursday 25 May, five masked individuals forced entry into university offices.
“Over the course of the last week, three of these individuals left the occupation and the remaining two left on Sunday 4 June.
“Throughout this time the university was in regular contact with them to check on their wellbeing.
“Colleagues have dealt with them respectfully and great care was taken to ensure that they received the supplies that they requested including offering access to alternative toilet facilities.
“The University of Brighton is fundamentally committed to freedom of speech.
“We have accepted and provided space for students and staff to express themselves during the current period of change within the university.
“However, the occupiers caused significant damage to premises and disrupted the schedules of students and staff.”
The university are not telling the whole truth. The occupiers have not caused significant damage. The water supply was tampered with by the university (unclear exactly who) which led to flooding. Part of the many tactics applied while dealing with them. Including refusing food to be supplied. When all it needed was to get them around the table and find a way to secure the future of their education.