The RUG will not accept it if a demonstration at the Academy Building ends in another occupation on Tuesday.
Last week, a ‘solidarity rally’ was announced on social media following the eviction by the police on April 25. The call comes from am.i.next.rug, Casual Groningen and Organize the RUG. They want to stand up ‘for the students and staff who have been treated violently by the police after a peaceful occupation’.
The UG says protests will ‘obviously’ be allowed, as long as they don’t disrupt regular operations (such as PhD ceremonies in the Academy building). But the university emphasises it will not allow protesters to occupy the building again.
Criticism
The board was criticised by both people within and outside the UG for its decision to call in the police on the evening of Tuesday, April 25, to put an end to the occupation of the Academy building which had started eight hours earlier. According to critics, the police were too violent.
The uni says it didn’t have a choice, since the protesters weren’t going to leave the building on their own and they’d submitted a ‘non-negotiable demand’: they would only talk to the university if it reinstated fired social safety expert Susanne Täuber.
The UG refused. However, the board says it’s still open to talking to the protesters. ‘We want to continue to improve social safety at the UG. The only way we can do this is by working together and talking to each other.’