Last week, the government launched details of a scheme to provide universities with access to emergency loans, should they get into financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19. Nestled into the detailed policy document was a recommendation that funding for students unions should focus on the wider student community rather than niche activism and campaigns.

But there is nothing niche about our activism and campaigns. They have led to major societal change over the last century. Without the tremendous efforts of students past and present, the world around us would be a worse place to live. Many of the UKs most notable political accomplishments have emanated from the actions of students and their brave campaigning.

In the 1970s the National Union of Students (NUS) became the first national group to campaign for homosexual rights, and we have continued to fight for equal rights for all our LGBT+ students and the wider LGBT+ community. Students coordinated boycotts against South Africa as part of the anti-Apartheid movement that ultimately persuaded Barclays to divest from the country and helped bring about the fall of Apartheid. These are victories that we can be proud of.

And students continue to campaign for transformative change, and a better society. In recent years we have successfully campaigned for half of UK universities to divest from fossil fuels, put decolonising education firmly on the national agenda, and taken a stand against sexual violence on campus. This is before we even start to mention the individual achievements of students unions in making their campuses more accessible for all of their students from gender neutral bathrooms to expanded lift access for disabled students.

This shamelessly political dog whistle from the government is insulting. They seek to dismiss all of this work and believe that universities should starve these activities of funding. Their hypocrisy in stating this in one breath while, in the next, calling on universities to promote free speech must be lost on them.

The silencing and further marginalisation of minority voices, not just on our campuses but across mainstream media and politics, is the biggest threat to free speech that we currently face, not a few cases of high-profile commentators who, despite their huge platforms, claim to be no-platformed (I prefer: democratically boycotted by students who refuse to listen to bigotry). Meanwhile, universities pay lip service to diversity and inclusion, giving marginalised communities a seat a table without recognising that the foundations it is built on are rotten. Students unions empower those who would simply fall through the cracks and remain ignored to organise for the education they deserve. In advocating for funding cuts, the government is silencing the marginalised students voices this is the real threat to freedom of speech.

As our organising comes under attack, it reaffirms my belief that we must continue to be radical. Students are constantly ahead of the curve and we cannot curb our ambition just to let others catch up. We must grasp at the root of these injustices white supremacy, transphobia, austerity and fight for what we believe in. Funding cuts, the failed project of a marketised education system where universities are made to compete against each other for students, and the devastation of the hostile environment have harmed students and their communities, as well as universities and colleges.

As we emerge from lockdown and continue to feel the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have the opportunity to change our education system for the better. We can make it more inclusive and accessible, create avenues for better lifelong learning for all and ensure that education is well-funded and staff properly paid. None of this will happen without the actions of students. We will be needed to highlight cases of injustice, to continue the fight for free, accessible, lifelong education, and to build collectivism between learners, educators and other workers at these institutions that will make our vision a reality.

While some might be scared by such a blatant attack on students unions from the government, I feel energised. They are recognising our strength and they are scared of what we might do with it. That is why there is absolutely no chance of us stopping our niche campaigns now.

See the article here:

The government wants free speech at universities but not for everyone - The Guardian