University of Bristol Independent Student Newspaper
www.epigram.org.uk
2nd November 2015
Two Students threatened with arrest after careers fair protest
Comment
Members of Bristol Left protested against the presence of major arms companies at the Engineering and IT careers fair
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Students unfurl a banner protesting the presence of arms companies at the careers fair.
Two students at the University of Bristol were threatened with arrest after they dropped a banner from the balcony reading ‘Arms off campus: Education for liberation not warfare.’ The two students are members of Bristol Left and were demonstrating against the presence of arms companies at the Engineering and IT Careers Fair on Wednesday 21st October. ‘Within one minute [of hanging the banner] security came. It seems that there was a lookout on the balcony who left when we got there, even before we took out the banner, and presumably notified them. [They] tried to take the banner off, so we removed it so it could be re-used, and then made us leave,’ one of the students told Epigram. ‘When we were on the pavement in front of Wills [Memorial Building] we were threatened with arrest by the police officer, who was there under the Section 5 Public Order Act, who made some false claims about what we had done. We were then forced to go to Senate House and talk to the Pro-Vice Chancellor. We were threatened with disciplinary action, including suspension, if we didn’t show our IDs to security. ‘The aim of the action was to raise awareness about these companies and the trade these companies are profiting from and fuelling conflicts and oppressive regimes all around the world. Continued on Page 3
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Professor Hugh Brady told students last week that he ‘was surprised that the University had not invested more in Arts and Social Sciences’ when he first joined Bristol. The new Vice Chancellor was part of a panel at the first University Question Time event of
the year last week, which saw 150 students assemble in the Anson rooms to question key University figures. Chaired by Epigram editor Sarah Newey, the panel also comprised of Laura Ho, Postgraduate Officer at Bristol SU; Dr Kelly Moule, Reader in Bio-Medical Education; and Professor Guy Orpen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Questions raised included debate on Bristol’s drop in university rankings. There was clear