{"id":141885,"date":"2025-08-13T08:14:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T08:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/141885\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T08:14:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T08:14:14","slug":"day-of-rage-anu-students-blockade-the-chancelry-as-opposition-to-cuts-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/141885\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Day of Rage’: ANU students blockade the Chancelry as opposition to cuts continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ANU<\/p>\n

\u201cVC Bell rot in hell, take your weapons there as well.\u201d Protestors chanted as they marched on the Chancelry. Photo: Nicholas Ward.<\/p>\n

ANU Students from Save Our Studies voted to blockade the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s offices this week as part of their \u201cDay of Rage\u201d protest against the university\u2019s ongoing cuts.<\/p>\n

The group had demanded a response from the university late last month, warning they would escalate protests if they did not hear back.<\/p>\n

According to the protestors, the administration has refused to engage with them at all.<\/p>\n

The Day of Rage marked the first step in their promised escalation. Protestors marched from University Avenue to the Chancelry Building, chanting slogans calling for an end to cuts, and for the institution to get rid of VC Genevieve Bell and Chancellor Julie Bishop.<\/p>\n

Sociology honours student Pippa Newman, who was at the front of the march, said that the protests would keep escalating until the university responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe basically pledged to escalate our actions today if we didn\u2019t hear back from them by August 7, and we haven\u2019t had anything from the university,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to disrupt business as usual at the university, make it very clear that we\u2019re here and we\u2019re here to say, and this is the sort of action that we\u2019ll be continuing to do if ANU continues as they\u2019re going and they don\u2019t stop the cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ANU<\/p>\n

ANU protesters have vowed to escalate their actions until the university responds. (Left to right: Elliane Boulton, Elian Dears, Dash Ridley Griffiths, Remi Prica, Pippa Newman and Beatrice Tucker.) Photo Nicholas Ward.<\/p>\n

Maya and Zoe were two banner carriers who brought up the rear. They said they were marching not just against cuts but also against the militarisation of university research.<\/p>\n

Maya said she believed that the university was losing its way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing course cuts all across the university, and teachers and friends have been losing their jobs, and also we\u2019re fighting the militarisation and corporatisation at the university as well,\u201d said Maya.<\/p>\n

Her friend Zoe said gutting the university wouldn\u2019t be in the best interest of Australia, and that for many, the education they had come to the ANU for was no longer on offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe major that I was promised when I started this degree is now crumbling, being wrenched away from me \u2026 if these cuts go ahead, I won\u2019t be able to do the courses that I had planned to do,\u201d said Zoe.<\/p>\n

Once at the Chancelry, students shouted slogans and gave speeches calling for a sit-in of the building until the administration came to the table.<\/p>\n

By a show of hands, they voted to blockade the building, in the hopes of bringing the administration to the table.<\/p>\n

Around 70 students took part in the march, but not everyone joined the sit-in. Those who did were confident that they could eventually force the university to the bargaining table.<\/p>\n

Philosophy student Finnian Colwell, who gave an impassioned speech at the Chancelry, said he hopes the protests can channel the energy of successful demonstrations in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve tried to make sure the Vice Chancellor listens to reason. Ninety-three per cent of staff voted no confidence in Genevieve Bell, but she\u2019s shown that she\u2019s willing to just destroy lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a long way to go before we can match the energy that the students in the \u201970s had. But I think that the crisis of the political situation we\u2019re in right now means that there is a real opportunity to fight back against what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the main protest event wound down, protestors held a \u201cteach-in\u201d for the rest of the day, with speeches, screen printing, musical performances and banner painting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Protestors called for VC Bell and Bishop to step down. Photo: Nicholas Ward.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ANU protest. Photo Nicholas Ward<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ANU protest poster. Photo Nicholas Ward<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ANU protest. Photo Nicholas Ward<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Protest signs at the ANU day of rage protests. Photo: Nicholas Ward.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Protest signs at the ANU day of rage protests. Photo: Nicholas Ward.<\/p>\n

The wide-ranging austerity program initiated by Vice Chancellor Bell to tackle the university\u2019s growing deficit has proved controversial, with students, faculty, and some politicians coming out against the cuts.<\/p>\n

The protests come as senior executives and academics at the university have been called before a Senate inquiry into university governance.<\/p>\n

For the protestors, the message is clear: the university is going in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n

\u201dThis isn\u2019t the first time we have fought back against cuts at this university, and we are committed to disrupting business as usual at the university until management and the government accede to our demands,\u201d Pippa said, summing up the attitude of the students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cVC Bell rot in hell, take your weapons there as well.\u201d Protestors chanted as they marched on the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":141886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-141885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115020462040769987","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}