Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Mark Scott, wrote to students and staff today with an update on the protest encampment and expectations of conduct.
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Dear students and colleagues,
Recently I wrote to remind our community that at the University we have a long tradition of understanding peaceful protests and freedom of expression can be important demonstrations of free speech.
Today, I reaffirm our commitment to freedom of expression and our zero tolerance for any form of racism, threats to safety, hate speech, intimidation, threatening speech, bullying or unlawful harassment, including antisemitic or anti-Muslim language or behaviour.
Expectations of conduct
Last week the Provost, Professor Annamarie Jagose, wrote to all students and all staff to make clear the principles that would guide our response to and actions regarding the protest encampment set up on our front lawns.
We made very clear that we would not hesitate to take firm and decisive disciplinary action if a student or staff member engaged in unacceptable conduct including:
I regret to say that in recent days we’ve become aware of a number of alleged instances of unacceptable conduct associated with the encampment including:
I want to assure you the University considers these alleged behaviours completely unacceptable and that we take violations of our Student Charter (PDF, 219 KB) and our Code of Conduct very seriously. We are investigating these violations of our policies in the usual way, including cooperating with police investigations where alleged unacceptable conduct might have broken the law. The University is actively engaging with protesters and we will continue to monitor the behaviour at the encampment. From time to time, in the interests of safety, some buildings may be placed in secure mode meaning a valid student or staff card will be required to enter.
Support
I encourage everyone to act with empathy for each other in these challenging times.
Kind regards,
Mark
Mark Scott
Vice Chancellor and President
The University's Acting Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Annamarie Jagose, wrote to students and staff today about a protest encampment near our Quadrangle on our Camperdown-Darlinghurst campus.
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Dear students and colleagues,
Some of you may be aware that last night a protest encampment was set up on the University’s front lawns on our Camperdown-Darlington campus.
A wide range of views and perspectives exist among our community and, as always, we remain committed to the right of protesters to assemble peacefully and express their views. We strongly believe that as a university our role is to serve as a forum for respectful and deliberative debate and discussion in line with our Charter of Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech.
Equally, we have zero tolerance for any form of racism, threats to safety, hate speech, intimidation, threatening speech, bullying or unlawful harassment, including antisemitic or anti-Muslim language or behaviour.
As the Vice-Chancellor said in February, in these times of conflict and division the University is focused on fostering a culture of civility and disagreeing well, where everyone feels welcome and included.
The University will not hesitate to take firm and decisive disciplinary action where appropriate if a student or staff member is found to have breached the Student Charter, Code of Conduct or University policy. The University has developed additional guidance to support students to understand our Student Charter, and what the University considers unacceptable conduct that may lead to disciplinary action.
Unacceptable conduct includes:
It is our expectation that all members of our University community will express their views in a thoughtful and considered manner.
Protecting the safety, health and wellbeing of our students and staff – as well as any visitors to campus – is always the University’s highest priority.
If you need support, visit our student life, wellbeing and support webpage or talk with one of our University counsellors.
Unacceptable conduct can be reported via our online complaints form.
As always, please look after yourselves and each other and make use of the support available to you here at the University.
Take care,
Annamarie
Professor Annamarie Jagose
Acting Vice-Chancellor and President