Kingston University’s Student Union are prepared for a battle against tuition fees.
Matthew Wilson
Kingston students and members of the KU Students’ Union (KUSU) have met to discuss tactics for attracting demonstrators at next months’s fees protest in London.
SU President Sean Kelly and Vice President of Learning and Teaching Rita Serghis talked with students on Wednesday at the Kingston Hill campus in the second of a series of meetings looking for ways to promote the protest on November 21 and ensure a large turnout.
Mr Kelly said: “We want to show the government in numbers that we’re not happy.”
While only six students showed up to yesterday’s meeting, 40 people joined the KUSU for last week’s gathering at Penrhyn Road.
The organisers made it clear the protests had to be about getting people involved and violence was not an option.
Francesca Manning, a third-year politics and international relations student, agreed high student numbers were the best way forward. She said: “You can be militant without being violent. We need to get a culture where everyone is going like in 2010.”
Mr Kelly is also determined to continue the peaceful fight against the tuition increase.
The 2010 student demonstration in London drew tens of thousands of protestors from all over the UK. It led to over 60 arrests, dozens of people being injured and numerous acts of vandalism, but was also the beginning of a chain of protest over the increase in tuition fees.
KUSU have arranged for weekly meetings to take place on Wednesdays to build their campaign group and hope to spread awareness through their Facebook page.