Jubilee lecture theatre sit-in has been ongoing for over 150 hours

The student group solidarity sit-in at Jubilee lecture theatre on campus has now been going on for a week.

The group of 15 students barricaded the entrance to Jubilee lecture theatre last Monday, 21st February, in solidarity with the UCU industrial action, and declared they will not leave the building until the University of Sussex meets their demands of providing accessible hybrid learning, and nationally endorsing the UCU strikes over pension disputes and fairer working conditions.

Over the course of the last week, the group have been posting TikToks documenting their sit-in over on the official Sussex Renters’ Union twitter page @SussexRU, although the sit-in is not an action of Sussex Renters’ Union itself.

Initially being called an occupation, the group of students announced a change in name of the group’s action last week. Shifting from being called an “occupation” to a “sit-in,” the group explained on twitter: “We’ve chosen to stop using the word “occupation” and to start calling our action a “sit-in,” because of the negative, colonial connotations of the word “occupy.” To “occupy” is to forcefully displace and extract, usually referring to violence enacted on people of colour.

“We don’t want to normalise the violent language of colonialism, whilst occupied territories around the world struggle for liberation and visibility.”

Graffiti messages have also been written on the tunnel leading into campus, declaring support for the sit-ins and the strikes. Messages of “hybrid learning now” and “power to the UCU” were shared on twitter last Thursday.

In their most recent email to university management, shared last Friday on twitter, the group invite the university staff to have an open dialogue with them and reiterate that they do not intend to end the sit-in until demands are met, or meaningful steps are taken by the university.

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