CAN THIS CAMPUS, ‘CULTURE’?
Edwards pg. 9
SOIT
THE GHOSTS OF DEMOCRACY, DOMINATION AND DYSTOPIA
A., Mehnaaz H. and Ellie R. pg. 6 WE ARE THE PEOPLE, WE WON’T BE SILENCED
Ava
Purny
Victor
Acknowledgement of Country
Honi Soit operates and publishes on Gadigal land of the Eora nation. We work and produce this publication on stolen land where sovereignty was never ceded. The University of Sydney is a colonial institution. Honi Soit is a publication that prioritises the voices of those who challenge colonial rhetorics. We strive to continue its legacy as a radical left-wing newspaper providing students with a unique opportunity to express their diverse voices and counter the biases of mainstream media.
In This Edition...
Ghosts of Democracy
Lost Campus Culture
The Devil Wears Sambas (X)ile
We Won’t Be Silent
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
New Romantics
Jiggly Bits
SRC Casework
Puzzles
Dear Reader,
This issue marks the 97th year of Honi Soit. As the only weekly student newspaper in the country, we uphold a commitment to platforming student voices and telling diverse stories. We champion legacy, activism, and creativity. Most of all, Honi holds space for connection and oldfashioned entertainment in an increasingly digitalised and isolated society.
Last year, USyd’s encampment carved a defining role for Honi in supporting and covering the Pro-Palestine student movement. 2024 also saw the arrival of our inaugural Student Journalism Conference, held at USyd in collaboration with student newspapers from across Australia.
It is a tremendous privilege to care for this publication. For your editors, this miraculous vocation of words seems almost fated. We all have stories of how our
journey led us to Honi’s door. From being children, with dreams of writing for hours on end and making our mark on this little corner of the Earth, to becoming editors for a paper we cherish as much as Honi.
Some editor’s afternoons evolved from scribbling diary entries on the way home from school to typing up articles on the train after school, only this time with an audience. One editor began their editorial career by cutting up cake recipes from old magazines to create similar but less polished zines.
At nine years old, another editor collected “family news” for a mockup newpaper and interviewed her dog, while another wrote fairy stories when her next door neighbour started slipping personalised picture books under her garden fence, written just for her. For some, things became clear when a Year 6 creative writing assignment was
Companion Piece, Anthony-James Kanaan
The brief for this edition’s cover was ‘the history of protest at USyd.’ Three figures, protests past, present and future, stand before you. The unfortunate allegory of this tableau is that our rights to free, fair and robust protest at this university are under threat. Universities exist to create and share knowledge. This is neither a neat nor decorous process. To challenge socio-political norms requires debate, discourse and demonstration: these serve to stir the imagination, inspire us to better our society and look towards a fairer, more just future.
read out to their class, and their eyes filled with tears of pride.
Finally, at the ripe age of ten years old, one editor manifested her future. At twenty, she would be writing a book, living with her mum, and not paying taxes. Ten years later, she’s writing, living with her mum, and Honi is not paying her enough to pay taxes.
So, it seems dreams really do come true.
Yours,
Editor-in-Chief
Editors
Purny Ahmed, Emilie Garcia-Dolnik, Mehnaaz Hossain, Annabel Li, Ellie Robertson, Imogen Sabey, Charlotte Saker, Lotte Weber, William Winter
Sophie Bagster,
The Campus Access Policy, introduced last year, has been condemned by civil rights organisations. It has been, and will continue to be, used to dismantle peaceful protests. Security services which exist to protect students are now being deployed to intimidate them. Proposed CAP extensions, under the Hodgkinson Report, threaten to undermine free speech even further. The university claims to champion peaceful activism, but student voices are being silenced.
Valerie
Purny Ahmed, Anthony-James Kanaan, Nigel, Ellie Robertson, Charlotte Saker, Lotter Weber, William Winter
(DSP): Eliza Crossley, Celina Di Veroli, Hamish Evans, Leanne Rook, Anu Khulan, and Norn Xiong. All
nor does it endorse any of the advertisements and insertions. Please direct all advertising inquiries to publications.manager@src.usyd.edu.au.
Bipasha Chakraborty,
Chidiac, Lila Daly-Hyatt, Ava Edwards, Marc Paniza, Tyberius Seeto, Elaquare Spencer, Victor Zhang, Shayla Zreika
The 2025 Honi Soit Editorial Team
Dear Honey
Lingering ghost of my ex constantly circling around in my mind time to time. It has gotten a lot better now but the mind still wanders, you know? It was during late-COVID borders easing I ran into a boy who ended up in Sydney as the place he was headed to border had closed, we had the most wonderful two months. Kept in touch as he had left for months on end and he returned. We got to spend a good few weeks together before the bad news struck. Well bad for me. The border has reopened and he was determined to leave. There was nothing i could do. The boy wanted to fly, become unchained and see the world. I was the chain. So they went. Almost a year went he returned. I could feel. Out of kindness, to lay me down easy. My hoping to rekindle what we had was still burning. He was there to kindly snuff it out. Before he had to return home. Sweet and gut wrenching moment to see them leave and to know it is for good. So anyway they still linger in my mind. Sorry it’s quite long but if you guys got a good trick up your sleeve to help me let go, move on and get a grip that would be mighty lovely.
To the gold fish boy,
I think it’s time for you to also fly… or swim, in your case. Do not be the chain, to them, anyone else, and especially not to yourself. Recognise this situation for what it was; a fleeting moment (however beautiful) of two strangers crossing paths and becoming strangers once again. Move on. Fly.
And stop writing poetry about him — it’s a disease.
Get well soon, Honey
My current partner and I are very happy together, with things going *mostly* smoothly. However, sometime before our relationship became exclusive they had a situationship which left them feeling betrayed and hurt, that they still vague-post about on Instagram. How do I show them I care and help them heal?
J,
You must be a better person than me because what wouldn’t be my first question.
Why are they still ‘vague-posting’ about their ex-situationship when they are well into a relationship with you? Are you okay with that? Does it fester any funny feelings? Make sure, first and foremost, you are being honest with your partner and yourself.
Struggling with the impacts of a past relationship is normal. What isn’t normal or fair is them not having moved on from a past relationship when they are with you. Make sure the line between the two isn’t blurred. (Start with the vague-posting… genuinely, what is that about??)
In terms of caring and healing. Healing from the past is individual work and requires time and hindsight. All you can do is love them and make them feel safe. Reassure them, if needs be. Don’t break your own heart in the process.
With concern,
Honey
P.S. If you’d prefer them to ‘vague post’ about you instead, all you have to do is break their heart.
Hi Honey,
What should I do about a boy that broke up with me because we disagreed on stupol matters?
From, f-slur stupolite
Mr. F. Stupolite,
If someone can break up with you so easily over a disagreement about stupol (of all things?)… either you had a really shitty take or he would have made a really shitty partner. Either way, it’s a lose-lose.
Wish him well, find someone outside your stupol bubble to avoid the drama (try SUDS instead!) and stop valuing people who don’t value you!
With love,
Honey
P.S. Please be more vague next time you ask for advice!
Art by Ellie Robertson
Cruise
Cruise is an intergenerational monologue spanning four decades and over 20 characters, celebrating queer nightlife and paying tribute to a generation lost to the AIDs crisis.
KXT on Broadway, 12-22nd of Feb. Tickets start at $20. Birdcage
Oh, you’re a first year queer student who hasn’t been to Birdcage, Sydney’s only “Lez and Queer” night club? That won’t last long. Waywards Newtown, every Wednesday 9pm-2am. $10 door fee after 10pm.
Sydney Uni Gastrodiplomacy Welcome Week Dinner Party
A secret supper club at the Darlington House terrace, make new friends while SUGD explores how food permeates your social relationships in an intimate dinner party.
132-135 Darlington Rd. $15 a head. More information on Insta. Gays Against Instruments: 2 Gay 0 Instruments
Your favourite group of a capella loving queers, singing all your favourite hits by queer artists with NO INSTRUMENTS!
Factory Theatre Floor, 23rd of Feb.
Welcome to Honi Soit 2025
Like we would forget to promote our own event! Open to Honi newbies and veterans alike, we’ll be hosting a panel introducing the new editorial team + quizzing some notable Honi alumni before welcome drinks and chit chat at the Rose Hotel.
On-campus panel location TBA 4-5:30pm; kick-ons at the Rose Hotel from 6pm til late.
Invasion Day: Still proud, still protesting
Charlotte Saker reports
January 26th marks a day of mourning and resistance for First Nations people, signifying the beginning of British colonisation, dispossession and ongoing injustices. Despite the trauma and violence of invasion, First Nations people have persevered, continuing their fight for justice, land rights and sovereignty.
The annual Invasion Day Protest event featured speeches by First Nations leaders and activists, and was led by third-generation legacy child Kyanna Hickey. Hundreds took to the streets, marching along Broadway with vociferous chants demanding justice and an end to ‘Australia Day’.
First speaker was Willei Coe, the son of Billy Craigie who was one of the founding members of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. He opened the lineup with a reflection on the legacy of the 1988 march. “I’m here today to make sure that these younger generations are coming through—it looks like they’re doing a good job,” he said. He closed with a powerful message: “Stay Blak, stay proud, and for all the other people following us, thank you too.”
Monica Kelly then spoke about her brother, Lewis “Buddy” Kelly, who was found deceased on train tracks in Kempsey, NSW, forty-one years ago. She condemned the systemic neglect surrounding his case, expressing her family’s relentless fight for justice as they continue to lobby the government and coroner for answers.
“The file has been sitting in the coroner’s desk for the last 3 years. To date, we’ve only gotten an email from them.”
Ethan Lyons, a young Wiradjuri man and member of Blak Caucus, delivered
a staunch speech condemning the ongoing injustices faced by First Nations people.
“The war on Blakfellas continues—it never stopped. The war on our children never stopped.”
Lyons reminded the crowd that First Nations people have endured over 300 years of injustice, criticising the nation’s manufactured idea of “unity” that ‘this country loves to sell.’
The speeches concluded with Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, a proud Bundjalung woman, and recently appointed Inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People. She called for the importance of a treaty and an end to the ongoing injustices faced by First Nations people.
“We need to come to the table and understand what treaty means, how we end this war, and what we’re going to do to give First Nations people — and, more importantly, my daughter
— an opportunity to thrive in our own land,” she said.
Every year First Nations people and allies have marched in defiance of Australia Day, demanding its abolition. This was not just a protest, but a reminder that First Nations people are still here, still fighting and will not be silenced. In the nature of continued fighting, Honi Soit urges our readers to stay involved. Stay aware of the ongoing atrocities against First Nations communities. Stay active in the space of advocacy and allyship. Stay protesting, stay loud and keep listening to First Nations people.
Educators show solidarity with arrested WSU Pro-Palestine students outside Burwood Court
Tyberius Seeto reports Students and activists gathered outside Burwood Court on 20th January 2025 to show solidarity for two Western Sydney University (WSU) students who were arrested by police at a pro-Palestine rally last year.
The two students, aged 21 and 24, were arrested in October 2024 at a pro-Palestine rally at the Parramatta South WSU campus.
One student is seen on video being held on the ground by six police officers whilst armed, plain-clothed police officers pushed back crowds. In a separate video, another student is filmed getting dragged outside of a building by several police officers.
The rally took place outside Burwood Court under police presence, where Macquarie University academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah spoke on the clamping down of Palestine activism by university management against staff and students.
“Despite the evidence of our own eyes and our own screens bearing witness to this genocide, students and staff at university campuses across wthis country continue to endure the most
serious and systematic assaults on academic and political freedoms,” she said.
The introduction of the Campus Access Policy, the acceptance of recommendations ‘in principle’ of the Hodgkinson Review by the University of Sydney, as well as the banning of flyers with the word genocide at the University of Technology Sydney are some of the key examples of these repressive actions mentioned.
Olivia, a member of Teachers and School Staff 4 Palestine NSW, spoke to the rally on the importance of standing in solidarity with students.
“Any educator dedicated to their career usually embarks on their vocation of teaching not only to impart knowledge and inspire young minds, but we care about the wellbeing of our students.”
Luciana Carusi from Students Against War (SAW) spoke on her experience of harassment for her activism for Palestine.
“I was also arrested for taking part in a peaceful protest,” she told the rally.
“Have you ever thought why they hate peaceful protests so much? It makes it harder for them [to arrest].”
Carusi makes references to the videos seen of police repression against activists peacefully protesting for Palestine, such as the video of a pram being lifted above a crowd at Port Botany last year after a violent scuffle was caused by police.
Israa Merhi, a member of WSU 4 Palestine, spoke to Honi about the police response to the rally last year.
“Students were on their own campus, protesting against their own university for being complicit in genocide and they were told by police that they shouldn’t be there, that they shouldn’t be there protesting,” she said.
Mehri also spoke of WSU feeding information to the police about their activism despite the university initially denying that they were not
collaborating with them.
Discussing solidarity, Mehri also said it means a lot to see people show up and support activism in one way or another to “continue the fight” for a free Palestine.
USyd cuts exchange program with Israeli art school
Emilie Garcia-Dolnik reports
On Tuesday 11th February, USyd confirmed a long-standing exchange program between the Sydney College of the Arts and Israeli institute Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design will not be renewed, following the conclusion of their contractual agreement in September 2025.
A university spokesperson confirmed the exchange will come to an end in an email to Honi Soit, citing reasons of unpopularity. The statement read:
“After careful consideration, we recently informed Bezalel Academy that we do not intend to renew our exchange program agreement with them.
In total, just 10 University of Sydney students have undertaken an exchange
at Bezalel and none since Semester 1 2015, and this was a key factor in our decision.
Our ties with Israeli and other institutions remain in place because we are committed to academic freedom, freedom of speech, and human rights as the University’s central pillars.”
The University further released a statement online yesterday, with an expansion noting that “Recent advocacy against this student exchange had nothing to do with the University’s decision not to renew the arrangement and any suggestion that it did is completely false.”
The Bezalel Academy agreement has faced continued scrutiny, notably from Students Against War (SAW) since 2024, after a FOI request revealed that the agreement was renewed as recently as 2020.
Criticism has particularly focused on the establishment of an emergency sewing centre in October 2023, which repaired and constructed uniforms for the Israel Defense Forces.
In a media release posted on Wednesday, SAW member Angus Dermody said “USyd dropping the exchange program with Bezalel is a great victory for the Palestine movement on campus.” He further called remaining partnerships with Israeli institutions “shameful” and “demanded Albanese and Labor immediately sanction apartheid Israel” and “end the repression of Palestine protests on campus.”
In response to the cited reason of unpopularity, Dermody said “The program was renewed in 2020, long after students stopped participating. There is no doubt that the decision to scrap the program now is the direct
Snap rally against Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza
Valerie Chidiac reports.
On Friday 7th February, Palestine Action Group held an emergency rally at Town Hall after US President Donald Trump declared an intent for the US to “own” and “take over” Gaza during a meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. Trump further called for the displacement of 1.8 million Palestinians to neighbouring countries like Egypt and Jordan.
The rally was co-chaired by Josh Lees and Amal Naser. A considerable police presence was visible, with a truck and van parked outside Town Hall, as well as police on foot and horses.
Lees spoke to the impetus for today’s protest, labelling Trump’s open call for the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip as “absolutely sickening,” adding that he was “sitting next to the man” responsible for the devastation of Gaza.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi called Trump’s press conference an “utterly despicable move.” Faruqi said that Albanese was “timid as a mouse when it comes to calling out Israel’s war crimes” and that “if he can’t speak up now, he is never going to speak up.”
Amal Naser began her speech with the chant “Gaza is not for sale, Donald Trump belongs in jail,” before reiterating that one can no longer live in a world valuing “profit over life.”
“Trump stated ‘Why would anyone want to live in Gaza?... It is unliveable because
of the bombs the US provided Israel,’” Naser continued.
Palestinian activist and law student from Gaza, Raneem Emad, spoke to the collective feeling that Palestinian lives “don’t matter in the eyes of politicians,” pointing to Israeli politicians boasting that a ceasefire will not last.
To those complicit, she said:
“You can continue to kill us… displace us… torture us in Israeli prisons but your plans for Gaza will fail.”
Peter Slezak, Anti-Zionist, Jewish activist and professor described Trump’s plan as an “insane delusional criminal fantasy,” that will provide access to Gaza’s territorial waters with natural gas reserves.
Slezak explained that the idea of forcing Palestinians from their homes is hardly new, with Gaza housing Palestinian refugees from all over historic Palestine, and that by this logic “Palestinians should leave Gaza and return to their original homes across Palestine”.
He also denounced Albanese’s lack
result of over a year of campaigning on campus.”
Partnerships between USyd and both the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Technion remain in place. The Technion Exchange Scholarship was not awarded for 2025 due to “current expert travel advice for Israel.”
of comment, and choice to repeat Australia’s commitment to a “dead” two-state solution.
Journalist and activist Wendy Bacon appealed to the “real sense of urgency today”, shouting out the ongoing support of the Teacher’s Federation and the Nurses and Midwives for Palestine. Bacon also criticised those who said they “can change the Labor Party from within”, suggesting they resign as they have “spectacularly failed” and “betrayed their own policies”.
The speakers all extended their support for Antoinette Lattouf in her ongoing court case against the ABC over her unfair dismissal, after she reshared a Human Rights Watch post on Israel using starvation as a weapon of war.
Bacon in particular, said that five days into the trial, “we have seen the insides of the ABC on display and what a grubby display it is”. She then called for ABC Managing Director, David Anderson to be stood down, arguing that he has betrayed the ABC and the journalists who work for it.
She referenced the increasing instances of public figures facing disciplinary action or orchestrated media campaigns against them after advocating for Palestine: cricket commentator Peter Lalor, Sarah Schwartz of the Jewish Council of
Australia, writer-academic-lawyer Randa Abdel Fattah, and academics Nick Riemer and John Keane.
Bacon concluded by urging attendees to back the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) calling for an independent inquiry into the ABC. Palestine Action Group’s next major protest will occur on March 2 from 1pm at Hyde Park.
The Ghosts of Democracy, Domination, and Dystopia
Purny Ahmed, Mehnaaz
Hossain, and Ellie
Robertson radicalise you.
Students have always been, and will always be, at the heart of change. Activism begins in a classroom, in a lecture hall, and on the lawns in front of the quadrangle. It is not a new phenomenon, not a symptom of ‘wokeism,’ but a fact that people, given the resources, understanding, and knowledge, will want to do better for the world that they live in. They will, as they always have, speak out against systems that do nothing for them, and demand action.
It is a universal truth, one that has been passed down generationally, in our history books and our spoken stories.
Students have always been defiant, fierce, and unwavering in the faces of institutions and figures who deny them their rights, who tell them that they ask for too much.
Education, knowledge, and the institution that harbour them have never been, and can never be, apolitical. To pretend otherwise is to be dishonest, cowardly, and willfully ignorant.
There is a reason that students, universities, and books are the first to be silenced, burned, or shot down when society turns towards fascism. Students and teachers were massacred at Dhaka University, Bangladesh in 1971, during the Liberation War, and Nazi students-groups carried out public burnings of “un-German” books. Knowledge is a powerful thing, and in the wrong hands it is dangerous. But in the right hands, it invites change. It allows progress.
At the heart of Australian student politics has always been the University of Sydney (USyd). Aside from its superficial attractions, the jacaranda trees and Hogwartsaligned architecture, USyd has held a generational legacy of sparking real left-wing change in our society, beyond the bounds of our campus. Even the paper you are reading today is a testament of the activism of USyd students which has persisted, and continues to persist, from generations before us, from kids, much like ourselves, who wanted to see change towards a better world. Here we are, generations later, fighting for our right to have our voices be heard, once again; as is our right, as is our legacy.
1965. A collective of young, USyd activists, led by Charles Perkins, took to the road on a 15-day journey through regional New South Wales, protesting against the living conditions and racism that was faced by the Aboriginal people in NSW country towns.
The Freedom Rides were nothing short of defining and revolutionary for our Australian society, a true expression of bravery in the face of injustice.
The ride was successful, and gained mass media attention; people began to talk, debate, and challenge their own beliefs.
Professor Ann Curthoys, a prominent USyd student activist at the time of the Freedoms Rides, describes the student life of the ‘60s and the ‘70s as “very focused around associations.” Her diaries detail the Freedom Rides, and she speaks like us: dejected by the state of our society, hopeful that we can change it to be better.
1968. Crowds of USyd students sit on the front lawns of the iconic Quadrangle, protesting the war in Vietnam. Students “barricaded themselves into offices and disrupted lectures”, occupying university spaces and violating social cohesion to solidify their protest. The Vietnam protests echo the 2024 pro-Palestine protests and the Gaza Solidarity Encampment as they occupied the very same Quadrangle lawns and marched into the Vice Chancellor’s office. Campuses in the 70s were renowned as “breeding grounds” for social protest movements, particularly the anti-War movement. The CAP has now killed a long history of campus activism as USyd represses historic mechanisms for change by declaring protest and encampments “unacceptable activities”.
With anti-intellectualism and censorship rampant, we need to consider our past, the lessons we have learnt, and remember to not allow the same violence take root, once again, and fester. Heed the warning signs, and remember your legacy.
Art by Anthony-James Kanaan
PRESENT:
Following in the footsteps of USyd’s legacy of activist history and culture, the USyd Gaza Encampment was established in May 2024. The left-wing student body came together to hold a mass protest against the ties USyd has to weapons companies. Many of these investments are directly linked to providing materials and weaponry to Israel, making the university complicit in the genocide in Palestine.
In light of the shut down of the Gaza Encampment, USyd’s management implemented the Campus Access Policy (CAP). The policy was introduced to students and staff in a benevolent email, pushing that the aim was to balance “freedom of speech” and “academic freedom” with the safety of the community. The email introduced what this would supposedly mean for protestors.
In the email it was stated, “We support the right to protest and, as for demonstrations on public land throughout New South Wales, we now require 72 hours notice to ensure we’ve got the right resources in place so that demonstrations can proceed in a way that’s safe for both protesters and other members of our community.”
With this, it is notable that the CA was an implementation of repression and censorship, disguised as a “safety” policy. The truth is, the University doesn’t care about student safety. The University cares about its reputation amongst rightwing media outlets and corporations.
During the Encampment, the news of a large protest was covered by major news outlets, such as ABC, Channel 7, and Sky News. With many encampments forming internationally, there was a widespread right-wing narrative that these were violent and compromising public safety. The implementation of the CAP was a direct response to mass media pressures across the globe.
instances where the CAP has been seen in practice. It began with the repression of students, namely student activists. After the introduction of the new repressive policies, the USyd Autonomous Collective Against Racism (ACAR) held a bake sale on Eastern Avenue to raise money for a mutual aid cause. This type of stall has rarely been an issue, however, the collective were asked to move their set-up away from Eastern Avenue as they hadn’t “booked” the spot (the pavement tile). . The reason was due to the non-compliance of the CAP. The question that stumbled the security guard (in his underfunded training) was whether a religious stall nearby, with contentious and antagonistic questions on chalkboards, had received permission. He replied “probably” and refused to check with the hosts of the stall.
This increased into an umbrella of surveillance, with many students experiencing being followed by campus security on walkie talkies, and others seeing their posters being ripped off the boards down Eastern Avenue (both political and non-political). It has continually intensified since the introduction of the policy.
On the 1st November 2024, a Channel 7 crew arrived on campus to interview a few students regarding the issue of sexual violence on campus. Once they arrived, USyd security advised them that they were unable to be there unless they had received permission, as per the CAP procedure. An approximately ten minute phone call between security and management ensued, whilst the crew and the interviewees waited for the green light to begin filming. To silence students on campus from putting up a mere poster is repressive in and of itself, but the escalation of using University policy as a policing mechanism for external parties is a worrying action for increased power inequalities.
direct an external review of the university’s policies. In November 2024, University management sent out an email and released a statement regarding the new “civility rule” recommended by the Hodgkinson External Review Report. The university then went on to agree to the Hodgkinson Report “in principle”, namely specifically recommendations 3, 4 and 15. in breach of University policy, consideration should be given to precluding its office and position holders (or some of them) from being eligible to hold an office in that or any other Organisation receiving University funding.
Multiple human rights groups, such as the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) and Amnesty International, have condemned the report, and expressed concern on the repressing nature of the CAP and the Hodgkinson Report’s recommendations. We must pull back the curtain on the “safety” propaganda and see these new policies as what they truly are: a tool to repress students, silence them and crush all forms of dissent. It equips the University with a “get out of jail free” card to put forth any bias they have against marginalised groups of people.
There have been a few notable
The University of Sydney is technically both a public institution and a private institution. This type of paradox is where the lines between policy and law become blurred. The university is a public institution for people to attend, meaning that it has its own policies that should align with the law, protections, and human rights. However, as a private institution, there is a blanket covering up the self-policing that truly goes on. The Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901 (NSW) provides the university with the means to detain members of the public, journalists, and anyone else who “breaches” the policy. This becomes an issue where, not only are students being silenced, but university security also becomes a power that is legally allowed to police who is on campus.
Following safety concerns and complaints from Jewish staff and students in July 2024, USyd Senate appointed barrister Bruce Hodgkinson to
These policies are used as a way to redirect anger towards the people fighting the issues, rather than people condemning the University for having unethical ties to weapons companies and genocidal apologists. What we’ve seen over the past few years is the fabrication of a narrative that student fees are being wasted on protests and actions to hold our university to account. This has sparked anger towards activists, rather than the major ethical issues at hand. Student activists have had a history of fighting for the amenities that we have now. Student Services and Amenities Fees (SSAF) have funded activists for decades, and have directly manifested as the material things we have on campus in the present day. Activism and material amenities are not mutually exclusive. This narrative completely undermines the decades of work that activists have put in to achieve these amenities – such as the Food Hub and free period products. These things were not a parallel issue to what student activists have been fighting for, but are rather inherently stitched together.
We have seen reporters write for Honi many times about the history of activism, with many asking “what happened to radicalism?”. For a long time, we have speculated that it’s to do with student fees, working hours, housing issues and more. And in many instances, this may well be the case. After the implementation of the CAP, we must radicalise ourselves once more. We must fight back to prevent what is coming for us at a rapid pace.
As the CAP solidifies prohibition of any meaningful activism and protest, what is descending upon us is the slow creep of democratic backsliding. To label basic behaviour pertaining to freedom of expression (speaking before lectures, posting flyers around campus) as “misconduct” and to invoke the rhetoric of criminalisation for peaceful encampments lends credence to false narratives where activism must be curtailed in the interests of “safety”.
The Hodgkinson Report stipulates that “...sit-ins and protests in buildings and classrooms are out of step with contemporary…safety standards and our obligations to maintain psychosocial safety on campus”. This concern surrounding “safety” is entirely fabricated in terms of legitimate concerns for students —if it were legitimate, the “psychosocial safety” of the Solidarity Encampment students, many of whom were students deeply personally affected by the genocide in Palestine, would be seriously responded to.
Instead, in a post-CAP world, “safety” can unilaterally and explicitly be constructed simply as support of the status quo or protection of the University as a corporate brand. Anything which seriously obstructs the University’s ties with Israel or support of the Palestinian genocide ultimately obstructs their capacity to ensure “psychosocial safety”, which they functionally equate to the smooth operation of USyd as a neoliberal profit-making machine.
It is also the CAP’s specific framing of protest as a safety issue that will lend credence to any police violence against pro-Palestinian student protestors. Before the CAP, University Executives allegedly refused to call police to break up the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. This was partially due to concerns about media coverage, given management was unable to pinpoint a specific university rule which prohibited this form of protest and thus found it difficult to police.
However, with the introduction of the CAP, there now exists an explicit mechanism for “unacceptable activities” (including “demonstrations without notice” and “camping”) to enforce gradually escalating forms of repression and potential violence. Given that Western Sydney University, even without a CAP of their own, felt emboldened to set five police officers upon less than a handful of pro-Palestine protesters, the capacity for USyd to respond similarly is called into question —particularly given the increased security presence on campus.
The CAP does not just function as a horrifically repressive gag order on free speech and activism, it is also the final nail in the coffin for the platonic ideal of the ‘university’ as a place of critical thinking, discussion, and debate. Dr Nick Reimer, USyd senior lecturer in English and Linguistics, in an email to Belinda Hutchinson (USyd Chancellor in July 2024), viciously lambasted the CAP as “vitiating one of the university’s most important social functions: its status as a place where…a climate of intellectual freedom allows the emergence of new ideas”.
Additionally, the Hodgkinson Report’s New Civility Rule suggests “each person utilising a word or phrase is responsible…to identify to the audience the context in which it is used”. This unnatural and excessively strict language policing fundamentally weakens robust discussion on any contentious social or political issues; this is ideologically inconsistent with the University’s alleged commitments in their Charter of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom. This dual approach, of simultaneous virtue-signalling whilst exercising severe repression, is sinister and carefully calculated— University Management still wants to tell mainstream media and prospective cash cows students he cares about student’s concerns, despite his blatant disregard for us.
What we can expect moving forward is that this type of twofaced rhetoric continues to allow for unchecked repression. The University will, by strategically wielding the CAP, become more adept at exercising political repression under the guise of “safety” and “community concerns”; mainstream outlets will align with management’s Zionist perspective and blatant media manipulation.
Without voices on the ground, the extent of CAP damage on campus will be ever-increasing. The precedent — for violence, repression, and censorship— that our university’s Campus Access Policy sets is shameful and will have long lasting consequences for all members of the USyd community. USyd’s legacy will be one of increasing political polarisation through the despotic imposition of his Zionist-aligned sensibilities.
As students, we must fight and remain vigilant, exercising our intrinsic right to freedom of speech, protest, and assembly even when threatened. To do anything less is to risk acquiescing to the demands of our ever-growing oligarchy. Speak to your cohort before your lecture. Attend a protest. Organise a protest. Put a flyer up. Do not let the CAP silence you.
Hodgkinson Report Policies
3. The University prohibits any student from addressing those present in a lecture, seminar or tutorial prior to the commencement of the lecture, seminar or tutorial on any subject matter. A breach of the prohibition may be considered misconduct.
4. The University should hold Organisations responsible if posters identifying them or an event which they are involved in are put up on campus in breach of the Advertising on Campus Policy. That the University develop a range of sanctions including the withholding of funding to an Organisation which can be imposed on an Organisation found to be in breach of University policy. Where an Organisation is repeatedly acting in breach of University policy, consideration should be given to precluding its office and position holders (or some of them) from being eligible to hold an office in that or any other Organisation receiving University funding.
15. That attaching banners to the footbridges be prohibited.
Can This Campus, ‘Culture’?
Ava Edwards sleeps on the floor.
I imagine that many of those who began studying at USyd in the post-COVID era have at some point lamented a dearth of that elusive vibe… anything that falls under that catchall moniker, ‘campus culture’— which, at this point, has been beaten to near-death. Ask yourself, what did you expect?
It might have been a vision of dancing and drinking before eventually retiring to a gutter and eating a kebab. Or, you imagined sitting around an overcrowded dinner table populated by roommates and half-empty bottles of wine.
Whatever form it took, I’d be willing to bet that you had some idea of university life, and in some way, you were disappointed. That perfect friend group didn’t spontaneously solidify from the amorphous blob of your cohort; you spent more evenings on the bus or train home than you had anticipated.
Although there is an undeniable gap between fantasy and reality, I disagree that all that there ever was was a daydream. My mother went to USyd in the late eighties and has relayed to me halcyon days of campus life that she enjoyed, where classes were punctuated by beers at Manning.
So, what happened? When did things stop being so effortless?
To state the obvious, campus life was
turned on its head by COVID. But some issues loom ever larger, and continue to strangle campus culture.
The state of campus culture was laid bare to me, in a manner laughably on the nose, while I was lining up for the ‘Sauls’, the St Pauls party held on Wednesdays. There it was, through the high fence, the very expensive corner of campus where it seemed like all the ‘campus culture’, the parties, camaraderie and fun, had been sequestered.
The very existence of the colleges is intrinsically in opposition to the provision of affordable student housing. Accommodation continues to grow more expensive, with some student rent prices having increased by more than 35% since 2019, forcing students to live increasingly further away from campus. Predictably, this makes it difficult or impossible for the vast majority of students —who cannot afford to live in colleges or even residences around campus— to say ‘yes’ to society events, or to stay out when the last train home is leaving in twenty minutes and you have work the next morning.
Colleges present a pay-to-win system, where one ‘prize’ is campus culture. Sure, it sounds great for those who can afford the $21,497 per semester fee (the first year semester fee for St Andrews college, as of 2024). It is appalling that students
Menstrual equity now.
Bipasha Chakraborty wants more than just free menstrual products.
Across the University of Sydney, you’ll notice sparsely dispersed free sanitary products. Sometimes they’re small wicker baskets with a kind note encouraging you to take as you need; sometimes they’re half-full Pixii dispensers, and sometimes they’re dust remnants of the exorbitant prices products still cost with “MrsFeelGood” faded on the side.
In a survey by Share the Dignity, three in five of 153,000 admitted to struggling to afford menstrual products, with one in four having worn products longer than what is safe to save on costs. USyd has a Share the Dignity vending machine in the Carslaw basement, and USyd stores sell packs for a whopping $13. The Wentworth chemist ranges from $5-9, and the USU and SRC work in collaboration to provide free products at FoodHub. The largest provider on campus is currently the University of Sydney Union (USU).
Since 2021, the USU has installed 102 dispensers in all 51 bathrooms across three of their building in the Wentworth, Holme, Manning, and Dubbo campuses. This has been funded by Student Services and Amenities Fees (SSAF) and the USU operating budget.
Campus
are being left behind for the benefit of an elite few solely for the sake of greed, and in turn, student enjoyment and quality of life suffers and the dream of ‘campus culture’ slips further away.
Abolishing the colleges for the purpose of affordable student accommodation is one step towards democratising campus culture. But in the meantime, I think there is some value in accepting and adapting to the fact that campus culture might not look the same or be as effortless as it once was. I don’t go to college, and I work. However, I live with my parents, closer than many to the university. In that first year, I let my initial dejection about the state of campus culture overwhelm me, and I succumbed to resignation. I failed to
If you can, I urge you to put in that little bit of extra effort to push through that post-tutorial tiredness, or the discomfort of sleeping on someone else’s floor rather than leaving early for the last bus back to the city.
If we want to discover the people and places that we have been led to believe are locked away by reason of circumstance, those who are able must try to arrive in the middle, and then we can start to foster campus culture. Granted, it relies on the willpower and efforts of those who live closer to university and are not affected by illness or disability. But it works. I learnt this lesson painfully, through many nights in, wondering where I went wrong. Now, I love my hard-won ‘campus culture’, and
In terms of expanding across campus, USU President Bryson Constable commented, “The USU is committed to pushing the University of Sydney to provide period products across the campus. It is disappointing that plans to expand the provision of sanitary products across the whole of the university campus failed to gain support from University Executive, though the financial uncertainty of 2024 undoubtedly contributed to the apprehension. As occurred in 2021, the Union has and will step in where the University fails to adequately support students.”
Much of the time you’ve used a bathroom in a USU building, chances are the dispensers are empty when you need it. However, Constable noted that “Refilling is in overdrive this month with Holme Building pads in particular being refilled with 5 or 6 boxes per day. Manning and Wentworth both 3 boxes per day. This only relates to pads. Tampons are steady with no refills this month.” Perhaps this year a regular refill of necessary menstrual products will be ensured.
we think it should be the responsibility of the university to provide these products, a student union as well funded as the USU should use their resources to alleviate the cost of living crisis for students. Access to period products is a massively important accessibility factor for menstruating people at university, and a delay in access to these products makes it harder for people to participate equally.”
requires wsystemic efforts, changes, and education. A campus that provides free products is merely a tiny step forward. Read the full story on honisoit.com
In 2023, USyd recorded a $351.8 million dollar surplus, yet still fails to provide
In NSW there is yet to be a state-wide public intervention in period poverty. In 2023 the NSW State Government introduced the
Art by Ellie Robertson
The Devil Wears Sambas: Do’s And Don’ts Of Campus Runway
Miranda Priestly’s assistants judge.
Camperdown is the new Milan and Eastern Avenue is your catwalk. The Twitter trolls are lurking in the New Law Annex and they loathe low-waist maxi skirts… beware! Dress to impress with our cohortspecific style guide, straight from the offices of USyd’s very own Runway, Honi Soit.
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
They’re everywhere from East to West. The bane of every student’s campus existence (including other Arts students’). “Poor”, pretentious, pompous, and always politically correct. If you can’t identify them through overheard parleys about whether Marx or Trotsky was a better socialist, here’s how to spot them from afar… mainly so you don’t have to get close enough to hear that conversation.
The main characteristics to identify an arts student:
Mixed metal rings
A jagged haircut that looks so cheap it must have been expensive
Vintage patchwork jeans from a weekend market that hugs all the right places
A graphic baby tee with a phrase they don’t understand (they swear it’s cultural, guys!)
A mesh bag made of recycled bottles from a Barcelona brand you haven’t heard of yet (but you will…)
Doc Martens
Skinny scarves (self-crocheted, of course)
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Science
One might say these students fade into Eastern Avenue like one of their solubles. It seems they are still figuring out the scientific equation for a fashionable outfit. The value of comfort will always be greater than x.
The main characteristics to identify a science student:
PPE-approved boots
Carhartt (they wish people would stop buying this out when they don’t actually need it!)
Camo shorts
Courtesy pop socket from their high school
Women in STEM expo
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Med-students tend to go one way or the other; gym clothes or basic jeans and a polo shirt. We suppose this depends on which section of the school you’re from. An aversion to Charli’s apple dance performed once a day… We hear it keeps them away.
Ah, engineering. The height of the academic superiority complex. Whilst you’re all insanely intelligent, we fear you lack the fashion-eyed qualities that Arts students have. Your mix of creative and mathematical brains seem to confuse you in other areas.
The main characteristics to identify an engineering student:
The first pair of trackies or chinos they found in their laundry basket
A loose white or beige shirt
A baggy jumper (make sure it shows the collar of your shirt!)
Earphones (with the wire)
Worn-out sneakers
An Earthy-coloured cap
A backpack that all of your notes are in (crumpled paper is a MUST)
The main characteristics to identify a medical student:
A USyd merch hoodie to remind their parents why they no longer load the dishwasher
Plain polo shirt
A Sydney Uni Sport bag for practice between classes
An ugly heirloom watch from their Dad
A USyd merch keepcup (hopefully the barista will ask them what they’re studying!)
Sydney Law School
They got the highest ATAR in their high school and now they’re fighting Moots. It’s safe to say these guys are used to the spotlight, that’s why their clothes are so sleek. They sure put in the effort to submit to the higher ups. #corporatechic
The main characteristics to identify law student:
A white tank top under an oversized blazer
Something from Kookai Strangely corporate pants (who are they trying to impress?)
A slick-back bun (with a colourful clip so we know they still have a personality!)
Sydney Business School
If they’re not men walking around with beige board shorts and a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt, they’re men in strangely wedding-esque black-andwhite suits. A prop-only Red Bull in hand suggests they’ve been grinding all night long on a five minute presentation on basic economic ethics (they really struggled with this part). Business girls, we pray that the glass ceiling cracks before your psyche does.
The main characteristics to identify business student:
A linen button-up made in Bondi
A Dell laptop backpack (bought to fit in with the Millenials at their start-up)
Very strong cologne
A Macbook stamped with the QR to their LinkedIn
Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning
Where cutting edge-design and sleek aesthetics meet practicality. We can only hope this manifests in their infrastructure.
The main characteristics to identify a design student:
A Crumpler shoulder bag
Platform Crocs (on trend again, who knew?)
Silver waterproofed earrings
Flowy white pants
Lace camisoles
Anything with an interesting shape
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The ghosts of the university. If they’re not on stage in all-black recital clothes, then we don’t know what they’re wearing because they’re hidden away practicing at all hours of the day.
The main characteristics to identify a Con student:
Red-raw shoulders from the indents of an instrument case
Very long or very short nails (based on instrument specifics)
A cute skirt or dress that matches their music taste
Black recital shoes
Satellite Campus Adventures: Campus Culture At The Con
Charlotte Saker orchestrates a trip to the Con. Close your eyes. Imagine a single AirPod in your ear, a Cotton On tote bag chafing your shoulder, and the visceral need to get to the Quad as fast as possible. All you want is to drop your bulging bag, sprawl on the perpetually damp grass, and breathe before class near Manning Bar.
As you weave through Eastern Avenue, someone at the socialist stall hands you your third flyer of the week. To your left, two PULP editors film artsy vox pops for their latest edition. On a grassy triangle, a group lounges in a disheveled circle, half-finished coffees and strands of yarn scattered around them, chatting about next week’s craft club. The chaotic rituals of university life.
Finally, the lush green of the Quad stretches before you. You sit, press your hands into the cool grass, and gaze up at the adorned clock face enthroned in the Quadrangle building. Its gothic turrets seem to hold the memory of every student who has walked these grounds, etched in the stone and captured in the dust on the stained glass windows. The building stands as the true centerpiece of Sydney University life, the heart of the Camperdown/Darlington Campus.
This campus is the epicentre of Sydney University, shaped by its diverse student body, over two hundred societies, and iconic spots like the Manning Bar, the SRC, and the Quad. While nearly 70,000 students call this campus home, USyd spans 10 other campuses across NSW and Australia, each with its own unique identity. But how do these campuses connect—or disconnect—from the main
campus life? Are students isolated, or thriving in solitude? Does a distinct campus life exist there, or a distinct campus death? Let’s find out.
I began my exploration at the Conservatorium of Music in Circular Quay, where music students find their rhythm far removed from the main campus hustle. Founded in 1915, it houses the Conservatorium High School and the Open Academy.
At the heart of the Conservatorium stands the heritage-listed Greenway Building: a heavenly castle-like structure surrounded by palm trees that enhance its grandeur. The building’s crenellations wrap the structure in a nostalgic medieval essence, making it feel like a home fit for royalty. But while some students feel like monarchs studying at this prestigious institution, many find their freedom and enjoyment on campus more akin to that of a commoner.
Students from the Con describe a noticeable separation with the main campus, with limited access to societies
and SSAF benefits. One student described the Con’s campus culture as paradoxical, noting that while creativity fosters collaboration, “it’s pretty hard to find someone at the Con who isn’t in a band or making music with others. Students feel limited to opportunities they naturally access through coursework.”
While a shared passion bonds the community, there’s little effort to actively cultivate it, with a student pointing to the “lack of outreach from the USU and its societies beyond the initial welcome day greeting.”
This only heightens the sense of separation from USyd culture: “to put it bluntly,” one student said, “main campus is intimidating when you don’t have a hand to guide you through or a ‘reason’ to be there.”
A student executive also highlighted the financial disconnect between the Con and the main campus. They explained that while Con students contribute around $400,000 annually in SSAF fees, they receive little in return.
The Con Students’ Association (CSA), the only student organisation at the Con, ‘operates on a tight budget—before voluntary student unionism (VSU), it had a $100,000 budget, but now it relies on a $10,000 faculty grant to fund most activities.’
‘Major events like the Con Ball cost around $40,000, yet the USU only provides $5,000, with an additional $3,000 from SSAF Sport. Unlike other campuses, the Con receives no direct SSAF funding, leaving students feeling further isolated.
While VSU funding supports wellbeing initiatives like exam wellness packs and equity tickets, there is little outreach from the USU or societies.
There’s also the challenge of sharing the Con with High School students. “There are a lot of limitations on what we can do,” one student said, citing difficulties in securing a liquor license for the Music Café and the challenge of keeping underage students out. As Dionne Davenport might say, “There goes your social life”.
The divide between majors also contributes to a fragmented campus culture. One student noted, “There’s always going to be an inherent divide between different majors because courses are quite focused within your cohort.” Despite the potential for cross-collaboration, another student remarked, “The Con barely has any campus culture... different areas of music would stick to themselves, like jazz studies only hanging out by themselves.”
Further, students feel the campus lacks extracurricular opportunities. “There just isn’t much to do at the Con outside of classes...we have very few clubs of our own because most things are already covered by the main campus.”
Nevertheless, life at the Con is rewarding. Lunchtime concerts offer a lively break, showcasing the Con’s artistic talent. Students study together for years, often transitioning from high school to university, fostering a unique, tightknit camaraderie. The Con has a campus culture—it just needs a little nurturing.
Read the full article online.
A Second-Year’s Guide To Not Looking Like A First-Year!
Marc Paniza educates
Welcome, fresh faces of USyd! As a recently recovered first-year, I’m here to share the unwritten rules of campus life (without looking like a complete rookie) and unlike certain new university policies, this guide comes without a 72-hour notice requirement.
Coffee Culture 101
Let’s start with the essentials: caffeine. If you’re willing to brave the trek down City Road towards Broadway, Toby’s Estate awaits with actually decent coffee. If you are too lazy to walk or are simply running late, Laneway in Wentworth is your best bet. Pro tip: learn to function on instant coffee or prepare to watch those multiple $8 transactions drain your bank account. Courtyard might be convenient, but it’s where dreams and bank accounts go to die.
The ultimate USyd building field guide: Where to thrive and survive
Institute Building: Where airflow is just a theory, much like the GOVT lectures that happen there, and the winter heaters give you a preview of what cremation feels like.
Susan Wakil: The AC heaven that makes me question why I didn’t just embrace the
Filipino stereotype and do nursing.
Quad Rooms: Stop romanticising them. High ceiling fans are useless. There is no ventilation and no aircon. Just plain old aesthetic suffering.
Chau Chak Wing Museum: Perfect for killing time between classes!
Graffiti Tunnel: For paint smell enthusiasts and I guess for art appreciators too.
Manning House: Shout out to the USU spaces.
Charles Perkins Centre: Your instagram aesthetic dreams come true. Take notes ABS.
Fisher Library Terrace: Elite peoplewatching spot.
Pro tip: Have multiple photos of different campus spots saved. Perfect for lying about your whereabouts when needed.
Victoria Park: When you need to touch grass and appreciate life. It’s not a coincidence that the Law Building is right beside it.
The Sacred Rules of Campus Life
Embrace your embarrassing moments.
You will walk into the wrong class at least twice per semester. It’s exposure therapy.
Join societies, but choose wisely. Sure, waste $5 on each membership, and then ghost them harder than your high school friends, by all means. Yes, I see you hovering around the Anime Society booth. Don’t even think about it. Unlike the university’s approach to student activities, at least society membership is still your choice to regret.
Consider getting lost in Carslaw as a rite of passage.
Good bathrooms exist, but, like any sacred knowledge, you must venture forth and discover them yourself.
Want to run a society event? Better plan ahead. Our beloved university, which proudly advertises it’s history of student protests and activism, now needs 72 hours notice if you want to put up a poster. If you’re thinking of a simple bake sale, beware.
Essential Survival Tips
Learn the art of gay walking (speed walking). It deters people from approaching you with flyers.
If you don’t understand the content, neither does half your class.
NEVER chat in hallway bottlenecks. You will be someone’s villain origin story.
Download the USyd app: it’s actually useful for finding rooms (when it works).
Save your timetable as your phone background during Week 1.
Always keep a charger with you. You’ll never know when you need it! Yes, campus food is overpriced, but you’ll buy it anyway.
Try to participate in tutorials. Your tutors will appreciate any answer over deafening silence, even if you’re wildly wrong because your tutor is tired of talking to themselves. Ultimately, university is its own beast. Leave your ego behind as it takes time and effort to figure out how you learn best. Think of it as character development: painful but necessary. Embrace the chaos, own your mistakes, and remember: it’s not about avoiding embarrassment, it’s about handling it with style.
P.S. Please walk on your left, I would very much appreciate it.
Read the full article online.
X Marks the Spot: How Musk Weaponises
Social
Media for his Political Playbook
Elaquare Spencer dissects Elon Musk’s political commentary on X
“I think Musk is more of a threat than Trump. I think he’s a genuine fascist. I think he is somebody who loves the idea of being connected to stirring up a massive political movement.”
Rory Stewart, former British diplomat and politician, current broadcaster and writer
Elon Musk’s foray into American politics is part disruptor, part kingmaker, and entirely indifferent to the rulebook. His substantial $277 million infusion into Donald Trump’s election campaign gives him an outsized influence over political outcomes, edging the country closer to an oligarchy. Musk, ever the agent of chaos, isn’t just playing the game: he’s rewriting it, one seemingly impulsive tweet at a time. Underestimate him at your peril – but one can find a blueprint hidden within his feed, allowing us to predict his next move.
From the beginning of his tenure as CEO in October 2022, Musk has championed X, formerly Twitter, as a stronghold of free speech, vowing to unshackle political discourse from the clutches of censorship. As a selfacclaimed “free speech absolutist”, he has vowed that the platform would
rather the very structure that outlines his global political interactions. He labelled the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, “two-tier Keir” in a post in August 2024, accusing him of treating white far-right protesters harsher than minorities. His accusatory rhetoric has since ballooned into calls that “Starmer must go. He is a national embarrassment” on X in early 2025. What once began as social media stabs at Starmer evolved into a close —yet admittedly rocky— relationship with Nigel Farage and rumours of a $166 million dollar donation to his right-wing populist Reform UK party.
On December 22, 2024, Musk claimed that “the traditional political parties in Germany have utterly failed the people”. His referral to German Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz as an “incompetent fool” and call for his resignation, came hot on the heels of
their “Young Alternative” youth wing as extremist in April 2023. He now has genuine relations and engagement with leader Alice Weidel through X livestreams and has spoken at an AfD rally via Zoom, claiming that they are Germany’s “only hope”.
Elon begins by voicing his strong – and often incendiary – opinions about political leaders and parties on X, stoking polarisation. This
His outrage not only amplifies anti-government sentiments, but loosely mirrors his discontent with the political leadership in the UK and Germany. Moreover, earlier in 2024 when Australia’s eSafety Commissioner obtained a federal court injunction to remove a video of a violent stabbing in Sydney from X, they received a staunch refusal from Musk, with the videos only being blocked for Australian users. He
snowballs into a close relationship with opposition parties, who often tend to be far-right. Here we see a pattern emerge, and Australia seems to be flipping to the first chapter.
“be very reluctant to delete things” under his reign. This, in turn, resulted in a 50% increase in hate speech on the platform within the first 8 months of his ownership. X was formerly a communal space for ideas, yet its transformation under Musk has seen it turn into a cesspool of polarising, controversial, and bigoted ideas. The rhetoric of his posts act as a preview of the Musk political playbook. The unapologetically opinionated edifice of his posts serve not just as a backdrop for his behaviour, but
the tragic German Christmas market attack in December 2024, where a car drove into the market and killed 6. Such commentary on X can be seen as a glimmer of the political meddling to come.
He has since used his platform to endorse the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) in Germany – a far-right populist party that has been identified by the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a “suspected extremist” party, further labelling
Musk’s online provocations have recently honed in on Australian politics. He branded the Australian government “fascists” in response to its social media ban for children under the age of 16.
into a close relationship with opposition parties, who often tend to be far-right. Here we see a pattern emerge, and Australia seems to be flipping to the first chapter.
Musk’s online provocations have recently honed in on Australian politics. He branded the Australian government “fascists” in response to its social media ban for children under the age of 16.
called out the “Australian censorship commissar” for “demanding global content bans”.
Whilst this seems to be an exercise of free speech, it must be made clear it isn’t. Musk has before banned accounts on X who posted content he hasn’t agreed with. This includes journalists from New York Times, Washington Post and CNN who had been critical of him, and suspending other prominent journalists who had been critical of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Musk’s X has also empowered Australian neo-Nazis. Australia’s online safety watchdog has warned that the “perfect storm” of extremism is brewing due to X’s free speech policies.
One such group, National Socialist Network (NSN), were previously banned on X before Musk allowed their return to the platform. Some of Australia’s most prominent neoNazis, including Thomas Sewell, Blair Cottrell and Joel Davis, have gained hundreds of thousands of views on their X posts. Some of these posts
are related to the NSN, for example regarding this years Australia Day Adelaide march, which saw 16 of its black-clad members arrested with various offences such as possessing articles of disguise, resisting arrest, and displaying a Nazi symbol. The choice to organise a neo-Nazi rally on January 26th was labelled a “brazen act of hate and division” by Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, Girirharan Sivaraman.
In a December video with over 170,000 views, Davis stood on the steps of Victoria’s parliament with a banner reading “Jews hate freedom”, declaring “this country should not belong to the Jews. It should belong to white Australian people that built it”. The video is still live on X. By allowing such content to be displayed online, Musk fuels a dangerous movement.
Musk’s abolitionist censorship policies on X have already had significant consequences in Australia. Creating a platform for extremist rhetoric exacerbates political polarization and condones hate speech. If his track record with politics in the UK and Germany is any clue, we can safely
assume that his growing focus on Australia means his influence here is only beginning.
Musk’s words aren’t hollow –they’re the opening moves in a much larger game.To find consolation in his rhetoric by labelling it as mere theatrics would be a mistake. With his track record, his flirtation with Australian politics isn’t a passing fascination – it’s a prelude to something far more concrete.
Guide to Living on Little Money for Students!
An Afternoon with the Philippine Collegian
Emilie Garcia-Dolnik discusses student journalism in the Philippines with Kulê
When I ask my grandparents about their time at university in the late 50s, they often mention the Philippine Collegian. The Collegian, or Kulê, is the University of the Philippines Diliman’s official student publication, established officially in 1922 but operating even earlier under the name ‘College Folio’ from 1910. On a recent trip to Manila, I had the chance to sit with Managing Editor, Reg Dipasupil, who described the paper as part of a “very vibrant” landscape of student journalism in the Philippines (the list of official Philippine student publications on Wikipedia is truly impressive). A glance at the Collegian Website will give any reader an idea of the paper’s staunch and radical values; however, digging a little deeper into its history will unearth a strong and continued narrative of rebellion that works alongside the modern history of the Philippines.
A Brief History of Kulê
The Collegian has been deeply shaped by Philippine political life and affairs since its inception.
Violent Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II forced the Collegian to cease publication until 1947. The resumption of publication saw the paper emerge with a distinct anti-colonial perspective, and throughout the 50s the paper would greatly engage with issues of academic freedom as well as ideas of Philippine nationhood and sovereignty.
During the Marcos dictatorship from 1972-1986, the paper was forced to operate underground in defiance of a nationwide media blackout. Kulê became another victim of this heavy media repression and censorship orchestrated by the regime. Reg credits the martial law years as the period in which the activist newspaper format began to assemble. This underground newspaper became known as the “Rebel Collegian.” Student activists and journalists across the Philippines were violently threatened by media crackdowns and the erosion of democracy. Many of these staunch activists who continued to protest and publish anti-dictatorial content became martyred for their cause.
Ditto Sarmiento is one of the most famous ex-editors of the Philippine Collegian, a staunch journalist who was continuously critical of the Marcos regime through his editorials, and was subsequently imprisoned and eventually martyred. He became one of many student journalists impacted
by the Marcos administration. It is our responsibility to remember their names, lives, and commitment to the struggle for justice.
Notably, the Rebel Collegian has never stopped circulation. It has emerged 4 times across Collegian history to address specific and political issues across both the nation and campus. Though it is not published consistently or frequently, its most recent issue came out in 2018. According to ‘This is not your regular collegian’ in the 2018 edition, Rebel Kulê proudly publishes on topics excluded from mainstream media. It has “indeed faced down tyranny and helped topple a dictator.” Needless to say, it is well worth the read.
“To back off now would be an abandonment of principles I believe in and a tarnish on my integrity as an individual. I do not believe I could live with myself then.”
— Ditto Sarmiento
The long tradition of activism continues as the beating heart and ethos of the Collegian. Filipino contemporary history has been meticulously covered and covered again, often against the grain of dominant social attitudes and political ideas. The Collegian remains a testament to an upcoming generation dedicated to truth and justice.
Student Journalism in the Philippines: Solidarity across the future
The Collegian office is spacious and airy with a view that overlooks a green campus, tucked away on one of the upper levels of the Student Union Building. Reg brings us back to the archives in front of us; leather-bound books that immortalise years worth of student writing and publication, delicate ex-editions, and shiny new papers. He notes the publication itself is positioned “to all aspects of UP community and readership… not necessarily just UP Students.” The variety of issues covered by the Collegian still extends well beyond the bounds of the UP Diliman campus, stemming from this long tradition of activism.
Though Reg notes the ‘tameness’ of present-day censorship at the Diliman campus, even of articles critical of UP administration, he mentions this is not the case for every student publication in the Philippines, with many cases of bureaucracy withholding funds to outlets seeking to publish unfavourable articles. As with many student publications, insecure funding has historically been an issue that pervades the present day.
Reg mentions that there are two broader journalistic networks available to the Collegian for support; the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and UP Solidaridad (Honi is in awe). The CEGP is the only-existing publications alliance in the Asia-Pacific, whose history is worth delving into in its own right. UP Solidaridad was formed as an alliance of UP campus journalists and now acts as the “UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organisations.” Most recently, UP Solidaridad convened its 58th convention of the general assembly of student councils in Pampanga, an annual conference dedicated to platforming issues faced by student publications across the UP network and enforcing solidarity with one another.
It passed 9 motions that are indicative of the issues faced by student journalists. Those were; (1) demand dedicated student publication office spaces, (2) urge members to condemn the eviction of student publication Today’s Carolinian from its office, (3) intensify releases on the antiimperialism campaign, (4) strengthen capacity building and engage in electoral discussions for the 2025 midterm elections, (5) intensify the campaign on the impeachment complaints against Sara Duterte, vice president of the Philippines, (6) pressure the national government to increase budget allocation for the UP system and capacitate members to report on underfunding, (7) enact a campaign enhancing political
participation of students in student council elections, (8) strengthen the anti-mandatory military service (ROTC) campaign as a vanguard of the anti-fascist movement and (9) expose the legal gaps in local or nationwide issues within the basic farmer and fisherfolk sectors.
As with Honi, Collegian editors aspire to restore the publication to pre-pandemic popularity levels as a long-term goal, both re-establishing trust and presence within the UP community, as well as ensuring the continued publication of print issues to high standards. As it currently stands, Kulê is the “biggest it’s ever been,” with over 50 members, inclusive of writers and editors. The standard of journalism continues to be incredibly high with editorship being bestowed by merit. Prospective editors are asked to complete an examination on newswriting before being offered positions. Despite this, editors and writers come from a multitude of disciplines which best reflects the variety of students on campus (including Reg who studies Physics!)
There is undoubtedly much that Australian student publications can learn from the Collegian. Reg, and the team behind the Collegian, are incredibly talented and hardworking journalists. The history of the paper itself is deeply powerful, and its present organisation persists and upholds this tradition of unity and might all-toowell. In a time where news media has too often lost its bite, the Collegian is a reminder of the journalistic obligation to truth and justice.
Honi Soit is inspired by the Collegian, and encourages all readers to support our friends across the Pacific through following @phkule on all social media.
Anti-Protest Laws and You
Victor Zhang reminds us of the passionate and perilous art of protesting.
You might be a seasoned protestor experienced in writing Form 1s (NSW’s protest ‘permits’), or university life might be your first introduction to the world of protest. Either way, your path forward is a passionate but perilous one. Our right to protest is a fundamental democratic right, and it is under siege.
Over the past two decades, 49 laws have been introduced across both Federal and State Governments eroding away our right to protest. These unjust laws have been described by activists as a ‘patchwork quilt of repression.’
The most notable from this tranche of laws is the NSW Roads and Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 introduced under the Liberal Perrottet Government with support from the NSW Labor Opposition. The Act criminalised any disruptive action on major roads or public facilities (including tunnels, bridges, trains stations, and ports) with penalties of up to $22,000 and/or two years imprisonment. Parts of the Act were later determined to be unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court of NSW.
The legislation was rammed through Parliament in 30 hours at the tail end of a sitting period without due scrutiny or consultation. The Labor Opposition agreed to support the legislation on the condition that industrial action occurring on major roads or public facilities would not be criminalised.
Climate activist Violet Coco was the first to be charged under this legislation and was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for blocking one lane of traffic for 25 minutes. Another example: protest actions were organised at Port Botany in November 2023 and March 2024 to blockade vessels from the Israeli shipping line ZIM, in response to ZIM’s CEO proclaiming that their first priority was the “[Israeli] Ministry of Defence and the government of Israel.”
23 activists were violently arrested and charged under these laws at the November 2023 action. The following March, 19 more were arrested and charged at the subsequent blockade. Union officials and organisers were among the arrestees.
It’s Time for a New TBR
Throughout history, the literary canon has been dominated by Western sources of knowledge and creativity. While undeniably influential to scholarship, literature written by white, Englishspeaking, scholars disproportionately occupy academia. Consequently, nonWestern literature is subdued and stigmatised for its customs and language barriers. Amidst a rising discourse about diversity and representation in present-day academia, Eurocentric foundations of literature are being reconsidered in a new light. As readers, why do the origins of our reading matter and how can we amplify the value of books written by people of colour?
In a comprehensive collection culminated by a specialised algorithm based on ‘quality and influence,’ only six of the top 100 ‘Greatest Books of All Time’ are written by non-White and non-English speaking authors. A cultural bias persists within the literary sphere, largely due to the enduring influence of historical power structures established by the Age of European Enlightenment and American Expansionism. In prioritising Western authors, mainstream booklists, as well as commercial bookstores, and online ‘bookish’ communities, often sideline
The Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901 imposes penalties on unlawful entry to inclosed premises (vaguely defined as anything that has something resembling a fence) and was originally introduced to give farmers the right to cull stray goats that happened to wander onto their premises.
The 2016 amendment to the Act drastically increases the penalties for interfering with the “conduct of the business or undertaking” on an inclosed premise, and expands the police powers of search and seizure. These changes were introduced when the NSW Government caved to the fossil fuel lobby’s desire to criminalise anti-coal seam gas direct action.
This was the law that the University of Sydney used to shut down the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. The Encampment was a vital part of the Palestine movement in Australia, highlighting the widespread student and staff support for Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions.
In a direct response to the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, the University introduced the Campus Access Policy limiting activities “any
works from African, Asian, Latin American, and Indigenous traditions.
Consider the racial bias present in BookTok trends. The dark academia aesthetic is firmly rooted in the idolisation of European academic elitism, and the majority of popular romance novels focus on the experiences of white characters and are written by white authors. Names such as Colleen Hoover, Emily Henry, and Ali Hazelwood are plastered as the face of today’s booklists, while revolutionary writers of colour are subdued to the label of being an ‘obscure artist’. Even the notion of the ‘classic’ is representative of cultural bias in literature. Shakespeare, Austen, Brontë, Hemingway, and Orwell are each English-speaking authors hailing from European or North American backgrounds. Meanwhile, classic novelists of colour collect dust on the shelves, bound by the stigma of ethnically diverse narratives. Rabindranath Tagore, Khalil Gibran, David Unaipon, Gabriela Mistral, Solomon Plaatje, and Lu Xun are all groundbreaking classic literary writers who made significant contributions to the scholarship, however, are underrepresented in the established literary tradition.
The implications of an undiverse literary canon restrict the capabilities of our intellectual and emotional intelligence. Being limited to the experiences, traditions, and perspectives, of writers from various cultural backgrounds hinders our ability to empathise with multicultural stories and contemplate conventional scholarship. To broaden the literary landscape is to expand our exploration of different histories and voices.
Online reading communities, such as BookTok, BookTube, and Bookstagram are incredibly resourceful forums that can act as echo chambers to share nonWestern concepts in a digestible format. This is evident in the virality of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. Despite originally being published in 2015, the novel soared to the bestsellers and is known as a ‘BookTok book’ after it was translated from Japanese in late 2019. Having resonated with readers worldwide, the book’s international success remains consistent today, showcasing the magnificence of literature: its undiscriminating relevance to the human condition, regardless of language and origin.
It is often forgotten that several of the classics were originally written in
by Charlotte Saker
user of University lands” can engage in without prior approval, a move that was slammed by students, staff, and civil liberties groups as draconian.
Protest is what has given us the rights we enjoy today. I fear that too many have forgotten why we protest, and come to expect protests to conform to some nebulous ideal of ‘decorum’ and ‘civility’. What is the point of a protest if it does not disrupt?
Despite the hostile landscape, we are not deterred, and you should not be either. Educate yourself and others about these laws and your rights. The establishment, policymakers, corporate lobby, and police want you to be disengaged and afraid that you might be arrested and charged. Never give them that satisfaction.
European languages and later translated into the texts we are familiar with. The works of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Kafka, and ancient texts such as Homer and Sophocles were all once disconnected from Western scholarship. Likewise, many modern classics are famously written by authors of colour, such as James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, and Edward Said. Only once books written by authors of colour are platformed can new ideas and perspectives be normalised.
Another means of diversifying our reading lists is to diversify the media we consume. By following creators who use their platforms to project the works of non-Western authors, and interacting with well-researched content, we can revitalise digital spaces to generate thoughtful discourse about literature. Social media is also a fantastic forum to join or create book clubs. Standing the test of time, they are the sweet spot between socialising and educating, equipped with regular meet-ups and well-researched book selections. International and local profiles to subscribe to include USYD’s BookSoc, creators such as Jack Edwards, Service95, Amplify Bookstore, and local independent bookstores.
Shayla Zreika diversifies your reading list.
Art
Musings On Scent, Semiotics and Sexism: Performative Beauty in Absentia I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
Sophie Bagster smells your misogyny (it stinks).
A garden of delights may begin here. Perhaps not with a rose or violet but a gypsophila paniculata. Baby’s breath. A flower commonly found in roadside ditches growing out of the mud: an invasive species. A flower so delicate, so soft, so thornless that even Kurt Cobain cuts himself on it. And it’s accomplice? Angel hair. The cuscuta campestris, a parasitic vine weed dissecting the host from inside out, hollowing out the body to plant down its own roots in entrails and crumbs of organ tissue. Angelic, perhaps not by name, nor by nature. For what is in a name? That which we call a titan arum by any other word would smell as strange—of decay, of rot, of the corpse.
That name is amorphophallus titanum, or, titan arum, or, in the choppy seas of representation: the corpse flower, ‘deformed penis’ (amorphous as ‘misshapen’ and phallus as ‘penis’) or, more recently Putricia, in lieu of the putrid scent it produces upon the crux of blooming. I was fascinated with the story. Hundreds, thousands of people lining up to see the flower in her exclusive becoming; a spandix extended from a gathered skirt of oxblood spathe like the agile legs of a burlesque dancer upturned and planted into soil. An image only cheapened by the name Putricia. It sounded familiar. It felt deep-rooted, chauvinistic.
As if putridity was both innately feminine and a harmless in-joke, because surely only a woman could smell so unbecoming and preternatural? Where had I heard this before?
High School. PDHPE classes in which, upon the periphery of sweet sixteen, our co-ed classes were split down the middle. Maybe not because of the incessant “...can anyone smell fish?” or “...close your legs” or “... I can smell you from here,” but because it was that time for the girls to learn about their capital ‘R’ Responsibilities and the boys to Play Footy. There was a word on the tip of my tongue, one that sounded a lot like self-hatred but felt like rage, one that could only be documented in a teenage tumblr blog:
I’m not one to admire the art of getting into trouble. Sitting atop the library table and being told to get myself off of it. Would you have asked a boy to do the same? Only if they had a whole hygiene section dedicated to their own genitals in every chemist too. An acceptance of the feminine body by compromise of deodorising.
“I would argue,” says the nondescript aisle in Chemist
Warehouse, “that odor is intangible against visual representation and therefore incompatible with beauty.”
Feminine body odor is a problem that can and must be solved through means of floral semiotics, lexicology and plain old maintenance. “Here,” says Western culture, “is a bottle of bright pink, undisclosed and probably animaltested goop to wash your lady-bits with!” Beautiful women don’t smell, and if they do it’s of Peach-Blossom Ultra-Fresh pH-Sensitive, Odor-Controlling Coconut-Hibiscus Lavender Intimate-Wash. And roses. Perfumes of “rotting corpse” would simply be too hard to market.
This is not new phenomena. Charles Courtney Curran in the 19th century described the women in his paintings as “...[forever] condemned as a punishment to…subsist on the perfume of flowers.” Women and flowers coexist in a cross-sensorial representation: the floral body as a decorative object of discrete fertility, fusing domesticity with the function of the feminine mystique in innocence: an Iron Maiden entrapping the female body in wrought iron petals. Women are to not just smell floral: but be floral. The flower, as a living entity, is subverted when it is perceived merely as a horticultural body: the spectator-spectacle relationship established through visual beauty. And the most desired phase in the cycle? The bloom. The opening, becoming, a seasonal and sensual appearance that manifests an illusion of theatricality in reproduction - a fertile pantomime.
that falls: litters, rots, spoils - lubricates up the roads and sidewalks with its bruised flesh is but a public nuisance. Somehow, this question of excess also struck me as familiar, the idea of reproduction being an asset until it isn’t. Until there is too much, until the question is what do we do with it? Where do we put all the excess? How do we deodorise, tuck, silence and denigrate? The rose bush is always pruned.
And yet, here is a flower that exists in spite of the idea. Here is an inherent abjection of the feminine floral form, beauty suspended in utter absentia. When the amorphophallus titanum compromises beauty for odor, it occupies the space between the ideal floral feminine and abject body. An unmarketable scent, a confused consumer.
Applying gender binary to botany in order to classify it as feminine is but a basic usage of gendered semiotics - the fusing of Putrid and Patricia making an undeniable stab at an age-old open wound of social disgust of the female body. In fact, the corpse flower is monoecious, both male and female sexual organs coexisting in the same plant for potential self-pollination. Then, I figured, if the name wasn’t a case of tangible anatomy, perhaps then, one could tie the words botanical and sexism together in order to make it make sense.
Botanical sexism is defined via Wikipedia as a preferential planting of (male) pollen producing plants in urban areas rather than (female) fruit-bearing plants. The reasoning, being that a small plague of colloquial allergies is easily anesthetized by domestic antihistamines, but fruit? Fruit
And yet, a deflowering of the greatest kind: strangely, there is something else. Something more important than beauty and scent that is maybe overlooked: growth. There exists an alternate dialogue of the double-edged metaphor in which floral femininity is both a gendered pitfall and a reclamation of the body. Flowers can be invasive, wild, dominant. They can smell sweet. Tarty. Like the earth. Wet Earth. Musk. Dead flesh.
A flower is not a ‘deformed penis’, but rather a flowerin the same way that women are not deformed men: they are women.
As Hayley Williams serenades in Petals for Armor:
And I will not compare other beauty to mine, and I will not become a thorn in my own side. I will not return to where I once was. Well I can break through the earth, come out soft and wild.
Or, perhaps, a flower is just a flower.
Art by Ellie Robertson
I would rather be sitting under a jacaranda tree, pretending to do my readings in the sun. I want to be playing into the romanticisation of academia, rather than running from it; breathing in knowledge, soaking up campus. I don’t mean to sound cliche, but isn’t it true that we came to this institution to learn? To thrive, to gain knowledge, to go beyond the comforts of the walls of our homes? I don’t mean to sound crazy, but I would rather be sitting in the lecture hall, or at the very least watching my recorded lectures and actually listening. Instead I lay in bed, watching the sun rise and set from the window. I trudge myself to the classes I cannot afford to miss (I miss a few of those, too) and skip the rest. I do not sit in the sun or wander the campus, and I do not wait for friends when the tutorial is over. I return home, to my bed, and do not leave until I must, once again.
I’ve noticed this happens every few weeks to every few months. An unending cycle of academic depression finds you at the most inconvenient time, right as the exams begin to loom and the lectures begin to pile. When study groups become the most viable form of socialising. When the only chance you have of passing the unit is by simply getting out of bed and finishing that bloody assignment — but it’s impossible. It is the worst form of torture; the deadlines you won’t meet hang over your head, a sleep paralysis demon of your own making.
My therapist describes this time in our youth as ‘the worstyears.’ He assures me that it’s normal, no matter how awful it feels now, and promises a light at the end of the tunnel. Adulthood is meant to be easier than whatever limbo period this is, after we clumsily grow into our skins, stretch ourselves far and thin enough to become worthy people. Adulthood (after we clumsily grow into our skins, when we’ve stretched ourselves far and thin enough to become worthy people) is meant to be easier than whatever limbo period this is. But as everyday becomes slower and slower, you wonder… are you even going to make it to adulthood at this pace?
The guilt of not enjoying my youth haunts me.
I grieve for the elaborate plans I had, for all the memories I am yet to make. The guilt of not enjoying the studies I was once passionate about follows me like a constant shadow. I remember fighting hard for the degree I chose, feeling excited to truly learn. It doesn’t escape my notice that I have not appreciated it once since I have begun it. The guilt of burning out, over, and over, and over again, when I would rather be living, eats into my core. What was meant to be years of late night parties, early morning brunches, and the brain-rotted study sessions with friends has turned into bed rotting and hours spent wondering how far behind your peers you have fallen. Exhaustion riddles your body and your mind.
Yearning For Sleep
Purny Ahmed gets out of bed.
Academic depression is not unique. I hate to be the one to tell you, but it doesn’t make you special when you are unable to muster any sense of motivation, urgency, or initiative to study, to participate, or to even live (rather than survive) through the semester. This isn’t necessarily
meant to be comforting, that most students go through the same suffering that you do. It doesn’t make the process any less lonely either. It does mean, however, that the guilt that eats you alive, for pushing back your degree by a semester (or multiple), or by strategically failing out of a class, or ghosting your friends, doesn’t need to cannibalise you completely.
So, how do you survive it?
My advice would be (as a veteran of academic depression), allow it. Give into it, just a little. Listen to your body when it is begging you to rest, lay in bed, and watch the sun rise and set. Let go of that one assignment that hangs over your head, if you can afford it, if it is worth letting go of. It happens: don’t feel too awful about it.
Don’t shy away from your suffering, and use the university resources to your advantage. As poorly accommodating as they may be at times, they exist, they are there to be used, and they can be the difference between making it through the semester or having a meltdown as it hits that 12am deadline. Use your simple extension, use your special consideration, but also use the other resources that are offered to you, the little things that make the slump a little easier. After you leave the class you forced yourself to go to, sit under a jacaranda tree for ten minutes before going home. Take a walk around the quad before catching the bus. Say hi to your friends in Fisher library on your way out. If you happen to stay and have a good time, well, I won’t tell you ‘I told you so’, but…
Allow the people in your life who love you to love you back to health.
The last few cycles of depression that I have fallen into during the semester, it was my family that pulled me out of bed (literally). They were the ones to sit with me through every breakdown, to patiently tell me that it was okay to put my mental health before my academics. They convinced me that my love for academia wasn’t broken, just clouded by the pressure of high distinctions and competition and a desire for validation through pretty grades. In the aftermath, you might find that you didn’t regret the decisions you made in order to protect your sanity.
Remember, you are not falling behind. Falling behind is a myth in university. It may feel as though life is moving forward without you, that you are stagnant, doing the same units of study but not getting any closer to graduation, or that your friends are moving onto bigger things without you. None of it is true. Remember, when you feel as though you are falling behind, the person next to you on the bus back home feels it too.
Breathe.
Selling Yourself on Sydney Inner West Housemates
Hey! Are you a multi-hyphenate?
A writer-ceramicist-DJ-bartenderpolitics student who also dabbles in bouldering and spends their days off reading and vintage shopping?
Are you social? Do you love spending time with people at home, but also recognise the importance of personal space?
Is $310 a week a good price for the shittiest bedroom at the back of a terrace that spans one sagging double bed and an Ikea cube bookshelf, if you’re lucky? Where you can tell that whoever used to sleep there ‘bagsed’ the balcony room and jumped ship when the sharehouse couple moved to Brunswick? It gets the best natural
light, though!
They have a moss-green velvet couch, a pothos plant spilling artfully out of a wine bottle on the mantle, and a sticker with Greens member Jenny Leong adorning their mailbox. They must be alright to live with, right?
This is Sydney Inner West Housemates: the Facebook page matching sharehouses to housemate hopefuls.
I’m in my fifth sharehouse after 5 years living in Sydney, and I’d say I have the housemate pitch down. I’ve been on both sides of the couch, and if you peruse my notes app, you’ll find a graveyard of pitches. The plots are still fresh for some of them.
Embellished with a self-deprecating “don’t mind the spiel,” I cast the net out wide. I’m prepared for the vulnerability of being left on read and the effort of traipsing around the Inner West. I’m ready to be the sacrificial lamb, perched on a stool while the presiding housemates lounge on the sofa, unified, making mental notes while I audition for the role of ‘Ideal Housemate.’
Why did I think that drinking tea was a personality trait? Why hide my nana’s birthday messages from my profile, thinking it made me seem more nonchalant?
Do I even want to live here, or am I just desperate?
The Romance of it All
Are we really all that “hopeless” when we call ourselves “romantics” at a time where casual relationships are becoming the new norm?
When we talk about casual lovers, we often immediately run to the idea of hookups and sex. But we tend to forget the romance of it all when we are in the heat of the pain and sadness that arrives in the aftermath of casual dating. The beauty of ‘casual’ is the romance we can create within it. Think about it like this: you’ve been dreaming of going to university since you were 12-years-old. You’ve been pushing through your exams, making vision boards, doom-scrolling on pinterest, and dreaming about the life you’re going to make for yourself. What you refuse to do, is to take a step back and realise you’re already living it.
Some of you reading this will have just started your first semester, and some
The beauty of ‘casual’ is the romance we can create within it.
of you are finishing your last. If you’re anything like me, that crush that gets you through the long days of first year will become a hazy highlight in your university memories. He was probably an typical Inner West creative; mine had shoulder-length wavy hair, a bit of a lost smolder about him, and played the drums (what a dreamboat!). We only ever spoke twice but I admired him from afar, feeling like I was fifteen again. I would get overly excited for that class, not to discuss Midnight’s
The next time, I’m on the other side of the couch. Sifting through forty messages vying for one room in our sharehouse, I ruthlessly cull people whose pitch fell flat, only organising an interview with those who sold themselves best. I tally up their hobbies in a pros and cons list. I rank them on who I have mutual friends with. In a strange way, I feel complicit — a foot soldier of the rental crisis. Even in an overarching situation of precarity, sheltered under my own name on the lease, I sit back while people compete for a place to live.
The reality is that you have to sell yourself online to find somewhere to call home.
Art by Purny Ahmed
Children by Salman Rushdie, but to listen to him discuss Midnight’s Children. I don’t remember his name
friendship, failure, and success. If only the walls could talk; what they’d tell us would be extraordinary. They would
away (and when living on campus, that likely means they go to USyd too). We went through all the monotonous small talk and he asked me out on a date. We ended up having some wine, bread and oil at Sappho in Glebe. With the live music in the background, the energy was just right. After telling our separately similar tales of the times we’ve been exploring (he had climbed up scaffolding, and I had snuck into rooms I wasn’t supposed to), we gave each other a knowing look, and off we went for an adventure. I don’t recommend doing this, it could get you into a lot of danger… and no, not even for the plot (sorry to my Keshacoded girls). We climbed the stairs on the outside of the American Studies Building to get a better view of the stars. We shared a kiss on the balcony,
of the bricks. The stairs were blocked off as a safety hazard the next week. This campus is what you make it. You can kiss a person you’ll never see again at the broken piano in the theatre of the Old Teachers College. You can dance barefoot in the rain in Darlington Lane behind the Abercrombie Business Building. You can tell spooky stories in the Quadrangle at midnight. You can be your own fantasy. Stop chasing things that will make your life its very own pinterest board, and start finding romance within the life you
Ellie Robertson falls in love.
To stand out in an oversaturated market, in a rental crisis, you need a personal brand. A defined and distilled identity, a hook, an image of what could be. How easily you’d slot in, barely a splash made in the house equilibrium. Will you fill the gap made by the last housemate, or make it your own? What’s your niche?
You’re selling your world, your way of living, your value as a life in the house. It’s an intimacy and vulnerability condensed in a sufficiently light direct message, self-packaging wrapped in tissue paper, the semi-transparency of ‘please pick me.’
A good profile picture (35mm film
to be precise) is a foot in the door. Working at an Inner-West watering hole becomes a distinguishing characteristic. You climb up the list. This is the currency, the cultural capital, of Sydney Inner West Housemates.
The page exists on Zuckerberg’s turf – even our search for a home is spiked by the logic of personal brand and target audience. The language of cross-platform identities seeps into how you sell yourself on Inner West Housemates. Housemate hopefuls link their Instagram profile in their pitch, because their own words don’t represent them: a curated patchwork
of photos speak louder.
Is there any other option?
You might evacuate the Facebook page and apply for Stucco, the student housing cooperative, if you’re eligible. Maybe you’ll win the sharehouse lottery, be the lucky one whose friend has a spare room. You could go back to the drawing board, polishing your pitch and concocting a new, esoteric pastime, ensuring your profile is just right. Not a stray birthday message in sight.
But really, there are no tips, no personal solutions.
Even if you have the pitch down to an
Places to F*ck on Campus
Will Winter takes you on a steamy tour of the campus.
Whether you’re spun in the heat of the moment with your monogamous lover, conveniently kindling a “one metre away” Grindr hook-up, or the flames of your across-the-lectureroom crush have finally boiled over from flickered eye contact and “I just want to jump on that point and agree” classroom seductions, occasionally students on campus have a thirst that can only be quenched by a quickie in a gender-neutral bathroom.
But how boring a bathroom can be! Here, Honi gives you some advice for navigating the campus when you’ve got a foggy horned-up head and starry eyes. Just remember: don’t get caught, unless the person who catches you wants to join…
The Fire Stairs in Fisher Library
You’d think to use a bathroom stall, or sneak into a quiet aisle on the archival bottom floor. Perhaps even hire out a quiet study room and hope your combined body heat is enough to steam up the glass from the eyes of prying librarians.
However, you’ll quickly learn that not only are Fisher Library bathrooms holding a portal to an unearthly dimension that smells like rotten cabbage and 1800’s sewerage, but the stairwells have a certain echoey ambience that both enhances the thrill of your secret affair and alerts you to
exact formula, even if your interview takes place in the certain, not the conditional – in the language of ‘when’ you move in, rather than ‘if’ – you can never be sure. It’s all up to the internal house politics.
‘Home’ hangs in the balance of the debates that spark when the front door shuts. When they confirm that they’ll be in touch.
You polish your pitch and try again. Maybe next time, you’ll be on the other side of the couch.
footsteps several floors away.
University Oval no. 2 Grandstand
Those tough plastic blue seats are surprisingly quiet when you’re pouncing back and forth on them in the middle row. You’d think to hide away in the far corners, but no, your best visibility (and the most invigorating rush) will come from spelunking with your lover in plain view of the unused sporting fields. You won’t need to watch a game: there will be plenty of ball handling on your end.
Put your heads on each other’s shoulders and keep an eye out for the wings, but always remember to pay special attention to the behind too, in every way.
Surrounded by gym (and therefore shower) facilities, you can be sure that you (and/ or your lover) will be grandstanding to attention in no time, all cleaned up before your next cross campus seminar.
The Carillon Room in the Quadrangle
On campus since 1928, the carillon is considered to be the largest instrument in the world. Our carillon, housed in a secluded room on the top floor of the Quadrangle, has fifty-four
bells that sound over the open plains of Eastern Avenue.
Those bells could toll across the grassy fields of the Quad as you and your lover spread out over the wooden handles and play each other’s instruments like greasy-handed fourteen-yearolds learning the clarinet. It’s not an organ, but you can certainly feel each other’s organs on the antique carpet.
If you’re looking to go at a teasingly slow pace, try and play the Star Wars theme using only your butts: any nerds in the immediate vicinity will simultaneously wet themselves from pleasure when they hear it. You won’t need to turn on the sprinklers that night, all the lawns will already be soaked.
The Queerspace
A “friend” “told” “me” that “they” “once” had “sex” in “there” and that the “door” is “lockable”.
Beyond the eons of stories about sultry love affairs and genderqueer makeouts, there is no greater fear than when your hand slips between the couch cushions while everyone is discussing their favourite Tumblr ships from 2014, and the slight moisture makes you reckon with the life choices that led you to this damp, dark, graffitied room filled with eagereyed baby gays.
On Footbridge
Have your goodies jiggle over Victoria Road while your body is pressed against socialist propaganda covered glass. Fling your arms out like Rose on the Titanic and make eye contact with the “428” bus driver. You will never feel as uninhibited as when that flippant Sydney breeze strikes your nether regions, and the driver’s life will be altered in ways indescribable to mere mortals.
He will never drive that route again without thinking of the freedom and bliss in the eyes of the pounded-out academic getting their glizzy on eight metres over a main road.
The Honi Soit Office
Apologies in advance to my fellow editors.
Lila Daly-Hyatt moves in.
Art
What is Contract Cheating?
Welcome (or welcome back) to the University of Sydney – we hope that this academic year is your best yet!
If you do face any challenges this year, and you are an undergraduate student, SRC caseworkers might be able to help you out. If you are a postgraduate student, you can access support through SUPRA.
Your student affiliation fees (SSAF) allow the Students Representative Council to employ a professional casework service to provide students with specialised, independent and confidential advice and support for several issues.
Special Consideration, Special Arrangements & Late Discontinuation: If life events—such as illness—prevent you from completing assessments, you may be eligible for Special Consideration. If your ability to complete a unit is impacted after the census date, you may be eligible for a Late Discontinuation (DC) grade. The SRC can guide you through these application processes, including deadlines and required documentation, and can help you to appeal if your application is declined.
Academic Appeals: If you feel that a grade is unfair or have other academic concerns, our caseworkers can provide advice on appealing decisions. For course planning and degree structure issues, we recommend consulting your faculty’s academic advisers.
Show Good Cause & Exclusion:
If you have been asked to ‘Show Good Cause’ SRC caseworkers can guide you in writing your response.
Academic Integrity & Student Misconduct: If you face allegations of academic dishonesty or student misconduct, you should receive a formal letter from the university
outlining the details of the allegation. SRC caseworkers can help you understand these processes, explain your options, and advise you on how to write your response.
Other support: The SRC also helps with tenancy and accommodation issues, harassment and discrimination concerns at university, and can guide you through Centrelink, HECS, and fee-related challenges to ensure you know your rights and entitlements.
Why access the SRC for university help, instead of a paid external agent or service? While external university advice services may seem helpful, they often provide inaccurate, misleading or harmful information to students. Some external providers may encourage students to submit misleading documentation, leading to serious consequences, including suspension from University. In some cases, students have been victims of dangerous scams, such as blackmail or identity theft, after paying for these services. This means that students may unknowingly be harmed when accessing what they believe to be helpful support.
The SRC is independent of the University of Sydney, and our casework service is funded by your student fees. SRC caseworkers are experienced professionals who specialise in university policies and procedures, offering reliable, accurate, and empathetic support. If you need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out via our website; srcusyd.net.au, or phone via the phone; 9660 5222. Our office is located in the Wentworth building, and is open for students to visit between 9–5 on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays.
Ask Abe
SRC Caseworker Help Q&A
Welcome to Uni
Dear Abe,
I am a bit shy and didn’t want to ask anyone, but could you please tell me what the best thing I can do at welcome week to make sure I get my degree.
Thanks,
Welcome nerves
Dear Welcome nerves, There are lots of things you can do to set yourself up to succeed. Attend all the welcome sessions to get information about the services available to you. Join some SRC
collectives and some USU clubs to get to know some people and get involved in some important and fun events. Introduce yourself to each of your tutors at the end of your first class, so they are easier to contact when you need any help. You can do this by email if that is easier. Don’t forget to ask for help. SRC caseworkers are professionals who offer a free and confidential service to all undergraduate students, and they’re happy to help you.
Thanks, Abe.
2025 STUDENT YEAR PLANNER
StuPol Bingo
Hello Stupolites! We are SO back.
With a brand new semester, we’re probably going to see a bunch of new faces behind the megaphones. In the after hours of the ABS building, you may find a few BNOCs lurking behind the kitchenette, hoping to get a sneaky intel on the Libs new plan to break up Groots. Either that, or you’ll hear them screaming into the mic about “strategy” for 4 miles away.
Treat this as your Student Politics companion for the year. Who knows, by the time the last paper goes to print, maybe you’ll fill out the whole square...
A single SRC meeting finishes before midnight (without quorum being pulled)
Stupol scales the Quad in protest of… something
SAlt does not hold a single protest against rent rises or the cost of living crisis
Campus-wide uproar over Courtyard Cafe removing a menu item
Grassroots member does a shoey
Crossword?
Photo goes viral on X of SAlt member caught with designer clothing NLS get CAPped for holding a sausage sizzle
The ABS building experiences earthquake due to council eruption
Grassroots members devolve into fisticuffs over how to regain the presidency
Unity beer tower makes a comeback
2026 Honi tickets have a contested election
SRC president promises to make chocolate milk come out of the taps
Chappell Roan performs at Welcome Week/ Manning (we’re manifesting)
Student(s) suspended for being caught drinking in the SRC office
SRC meeting gets cancelled due to flooding
Penta make a bid for the SRC presidency
First years remain blissfully unaware of what a BNOC is Honi bookmarks are the hottest property at Welcome Week
Inter-factional enemies to lovers drama
Liberals fail to attend a single SRC meeting
SAlt spends over $200 on megaphones because they overused their old ones NLS releases fashion line: “Radical Chic”
NLS design custom tote bags that say ‘TWO PRONGED SOLUTION’
USyd students actually vote in the elections! Please guys do it for us
Eastern Ave flyerers break down in tears after being rejected too many times
“A town and gown conflict”: Honi in the 1920s
Lotte Weber delves into the archives.
Our beloved paper was established in 1929 in an effort to paint USyd students in a better public light and rebut mainstream media, which referred to us as “educated louts”. In one 1989 article, Charles McCausland, a former student, reflected on USyd’s tumultuous 20s:
“It’s difficult, if not impossible, to recapture the feeling of 1929. Glebe, where many students had to live, was a slum, rack rented by the good Anglican church which owned Glebe. Forest Lodge, Redfern, Newtown, Camperdown, Rozelle and Balmain were all slums, unkempt, grotty, noise-wracked by trams. The Depression had begun. Unemployment was to reach 20%. There were doctors on dole queues before the depression ended. People actually died of starvation in Balmain… In 1929 there was so much public resentment that an Italian student, one Virgil Losciavo, who was probably innocent, was sent down for his alleged desecration of the Cenotaph in Martin Place… The reputation of Sydney University as well as that of the undergrads was at stake and had to be defended. Ours was the deadliest of the Seven Deadly Sins – pride in Sydney University.”
Baked Goods
Homemade cupcakes. $5 each. Not for sale on Eastern Avenue. The straight person’s poppers. Found on the grass in Centennial Park after Laneway. Used Nang
Mark Scott’s Dignity So
