LSE and BP locked into permanent relationship

Vanessa Huang Staff Writer

Illustrated by Noora Belcaid

Arelationship between LSE and British Petroleum (BP), sustained thus far for over 30 years, will continue inde nitely following an initial donation from the oil giant.

A Freedom of Information request made by e Beaver has revealed that LSE accepted £1.25 million from BP in 1990, with the funds used to establish the BP Centennial Professor scheme, a one-year visiting appointment.

e post is designed ‘to attract academics of outstanding international distinction’ in the areas of business policy, economics, nance, politics, and international trade. Alongside research and teaching at LSE, selected candidates are required ‘[t]o contribute to the internal education programme of BP and to develop contacts between the school and BP.’ e funds, received in £250,000 tranches over ve years, were donated to LSE as a permanent endowment, meaning the current agreement will remain in perpetuity. is news comes as calls mount for universities to cut ties with fossil fuel companies. In a rst for leading universities, sta at the University of Cambridge are set to vote on whether future donations from fossil fuel companies should be accepted.

LSE has previously avoided sharing the sources of its nances, declining to reveal recent donations from fossil fuel companies in a 2021 open Democracy investigation. LSE cited an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act, saying this would “prejudice the commercial interests of the school, by making it more di cult to raise funds from private donors in the future.”

Apart from accepting donations from fossil fuel companies, LSE has also come under re for rejecting calls to divest from fossil fuels, as e Beaver reported last year, with 0.4 percent of its invest- ment portfolio in 2021 exposed to coal, tar sands, tobacco, and controversial weapons.

LSESU Environment and Ethics O cer

Sophie Trott commented, “I think it is extremely concerning that this relationship is continuing in spite of LSE’s so-called ‘carbon neutral status’. It is disappointing that students are continually excluded from funding decisions that ultimately result in partnerships inimical to students’ values. Ultimately, this is just another example of LSE management failing to be held accountable to its environmental and ethical commitments, as well as to its students.”

An LSE spokesperson commented, “We are committed to making sustainability a key part of our investment decisions, and we will continue to review our policies and consider further steps and actions we can take, in line with the investment area of our Sustainability Strategic Plan.

“We recently published our new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy with input from the whole LSE community, including students.

UK universities to face 18 days of strike action

Chenoa Colaco Staff Writer

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced upcoming industrial action expected to take place for 18 days across February and March. A marking and assessment boycott has also been called to ‘strategically target the summer nals’. e union is demanding pay rises to combat the cost of living, better job security, lighter workloads, and pay equality. e rst day of strike action is set to be on Wednesday, 1 February. e UCU is yet to announce the other dates.

is response comes a er several negotiations between the UCU and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) over the last several weeks, wherein the UCU received an o er for an average of 2-4 percent salaried increase for their roles, in contrast to the UCU’s request for Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 3 percent. e request was labelled an ‘April Fool’s joke’ by the vice-chancellor body of the UCEA.

Alongside pay, the UCU has also been ghting for a 35-hour working week basis for contracts, tackling gender and ethnic pay gaps, and abolishing zero-hour contracts. e UCU and UCEA will have further meetings on Wednesday, 25 January to continue negotiations. e UCU General Secretary Jo Grady has said the UCU remains “committed to reaching a negotiated settlement”, but action will follow if employers “don’t get serious” in time.

Students have increasingly mixed views on the strikes. April*, a rst-year Philosophy student, has experienced strike action and believes the UCEA “should take teacher demands seriously”. April commented on how her teachers tried so hard to make up for the missing lessons, such as by adding extra o ce hours. “I do not consider it fair when dedication and hard work do not receive the pay they deserve,” she said.

While many students support the strike, others are turning away from industrial action. A self-described “jaded” thirdyear history student, Sam*, described his increasing disillusionment,‘‘I feel like my entire university experience has been demarcated by the pandemic and then these strikes. Even though I believe university sta deserve fair pay, the amount of strike action has really a ected stu-

“Since 2015, our investment exposure to tobacco manufacture, controversial weapons or companies which are signi cantly engaged in the extraction of thermal coal and tar sands, the most polluting of fossil fuels, has reduced by over 80 per cent. e total exposure of the portfolios was 0.6% in 2021-22 - 0.2% tobacco, 0.3% tar sands, 0.1% thermal coal and no holdings in controversial weapons.

“Our ESG policy will continue to involve selecting externally managed funds that minimise indirect investments in the worst-o ending sectors. It also sets out to support companies aligned to rigorous net-zero/climate targets and divestment from those that are not.” dents and has barely made a dent in management.’’

He also believes that as a History student, he receives disproportionately worse treatment than some other students. ‘‘It’s no secret that the History department is a lot smaller and funded less than others, but it’s really obvious during strikes. For some Economics classes last year, teachers that went on strike were replaced by a substitute so their learning wouldn’t be disrupted. For us, we just got 3 weeks of no classes.’’

When asked for his opinion on the negotiated tiered 4-5 percent salary increase, he said, ‘‘ e amount of damage these strikes are causing are honestly not proportional to the reward.’’ He later described the situation as ‘‘overall just bad for everyone’’, including students who are ‘‘unfortunately stuck in the middle.’’

Other students, like third-year History and Politics student Reem Ibrahim are “livid” about the second round of industrial action this academic year. Appearing on GB News, she argues, “I do understand the pay cuts are di cult but we’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis and our students are bearing the brunt of these strikes.” ird-year Economics student, Dania thinks students can play a much larger role. ‘‘ e amount of strikes happening across the nation and other industries have made us treat them like they’re just a normal part of our days now. is defeats the point. We are being targeted because we are the consumers and if the consumers are unhappy, universities will notice.’’ Dania believes students need to ‘‘make more noise’’ especially in regards to paying fees, which can be done through ‘‘emailing and social media.’’ Dania concluded, “As students, we are the ones in power.”

An LSE spokesperson commented, ‘‘In line with other universities, we are awaiting further detail on strike action and relevant dates, but the School will do its utmost to mitigate the impact of strike action on both the provision of teaching and the student experience.

“ e School regularly updates a dedicated industrial action webpage with information regarding studying during strike action. For further support, students can also nd a range of resources, information and relevant contacts in the Support Map.’’

*Names in this article have been changed to preserve anonymity.