Owen Holland: reposting from kalypso_v's LJ
Originally posted by kalypso_v at Owen Holland
fengirl88 comments:
I don't know how to do a signal boost, but I've signed the petition and am reposting kalypso_v's LJ entry here; please sign the petition and pass the word on if you can.
Owen Holland is a friend of a friend - I met him very briefly recently - who is a PhD student at Cambridge University. In November last year, he made a peaceful protest against a visit from the minister for universities and science, David Willetts, by reading out a poem, while fellow-protesters repeated lines from the poem. This caused the minister to abandon his speech.
His case was heard this week by the university's court of discipline. The university's own prosecutor proposed that he should be rusticated (suspended from the university) for one term; the court decided to make this seven terms, ie two and a half years, a very serious disruption of his academic career. His senior tutor and graduate tutor were not permitted to speak on his behalf.
A brief report of the judgment has appeared in The Guardian.
You may or may not think his protest and the form it took were a good idea (I know some will think it was a very good idea). But the severity of his punishment appears extraordinary. Sixty other people (academic staff as well as students) have declared their involvement in the protest, but no one else has been prosecuted; he appears to be shouldering the punishment for all of them.
Owen is expected to appeal against the decision, and has the support of his college and the Chair of the English Faculty.
His supporters have set up a petition for members of Cambridge University and another one for the rest of us. The latter stood at nearly 4,000 names when I signed.
I would be very grateful if anyone else would swell the numbers.
Also posted on Dreamwidth, with
comments.
fengirl88 comments:
I don't know how to do a signal boost, but I've signed the petition and am reposting kalypso_v's LJ entry here; please sign the petition and pass the word on if you can.
Owen Holland is a friend of a friend - I met him very briefly recently - who is a PhD student at Cambridge University. In November last year, he made a peaceful protest against a visit from the minister for universities and science, David Willetts, by reading out a poem, while fellow-protesters repeated lines from the poem. This caused the minister to abandon his speech.
His case was heard this week by the university's court of discipline. The university's own prosecutor proposed that he should be rusticated (suspended from the university) for one term; the court decided to make this seven terms, ie two and a half years, a very serious disruption of his academic career. His senior tutor and graduate tutor were not permitted to speak on his behalf.
A brief report of the judgment has appeared in The Guardian.
You may or may not think his protest and the form it took were a good idea (I know some will think it was a very good idea). But the severity of his punishment appears extraordinary. Sixty other people (academic staff as well as students) have declared their involvement in the protest, but no one else has been prosecuted; he appears to be shouldering the punishment for all of them.
Owen is expected to appeal against the decision, and has the support of his college and the Chair of the English Faculty.
His supporters have set up a petition for members of Cambridge University and another one for the rest of us. The latter stood at nearly 4,000 names when I signed.
I would be very grateful if anyone else would swell the numbers.
Also posted on Dreamwidth, with
comments.