Photo: Liam O’Hare

University authorities are braced for a wave of student protests over the presence of arms companies at careers fairs.

Students protest over arms dealers at recruitment fairs

University authorities are braced for a wave of student protests over the presence of arms companies at careers fairs.

by Symon Hill 20th October 2010

One recent event in Edinburgh was closed after students lay down in front of a stall run by BAE Systems.  Graduate recruitment has long been a priority for arms firms, particularly among engineering and management students. But protests are on the increase and the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is stepping up the pressure with a new campaign.

University authorities are braced for a wave of student protests over the presence of arms companies at careers fairs. One recent event in Edinburgh was closed after students lay down in front of a stall run by BAE Systems.

Graduate recruitment has long been a priority for arms firms, particularly among engineering and management students. But protests are on the increase and the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is stepping up the pressure with a new campaign.

‘When we see something that’s wrong happening, we have to do something about it,’ insisted history student Imogen Michel, who handed out leaflets about BAE outside Edinburgh’s recent recruitment fair. She told the Friend that most students were surprised ‘that there were arms dealers inside at all’.

Security staff called police and removed everyone else from the building after twelve students lay on the floor. But the students insisted that the protest was entirely nonviolent.
BAE, one of the world’s largest weapons producers, has long drawn criticism with sales to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

‘BAE Systems is said to be a major employer in the UK, but this is increasingly not the case,’ explained CAAT’s Abi Haque. ‘Contrary to BAE’s advertising campaign about investing in UK jobs, more and more of its production is occurring overseas and this will continue.’

In coming weeks, arms companies are expected at universities including Brighton, Cardiff, Exeter, Hertfordshire and Manchester.

Some sound determined to resist criticism. A spokesperson for Sheffield University told the Friend: ‘We will continue to develop our partnership with companies such as BAE in order to position the university… as a research-led university in the global environment’. Arms firms including BAE, Rolls Royce and Thales are expected at Sheffield on 3 November.

Certain universities have commercial reasons for maintaining relationships with arms companies. A 2007 study by Martha Beale and Tim Street found twenty-six universities had accepted at least £725m in research funding from the arms industry in the preceding six years. Cuts to higher education funding may now give arms dealers more opportunities to do deals.

For some campaigners, the target is not university authorities but arms dealers themselves. They hope that companies such as BAE will give up attending events when their recruitment is constantly hampered by protests. A spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh recognised that students had a right to demonstrate ‘so long as they do not prevent other students from having access to the careers information’.

But Haque denied that the campaign is preventing students from making their own choices. ‘We do not tolerate religious extremism when it calls for violence,’ she said, ‘Why then should we tolerate the presence of a company that provides weapons that are used to dire effects?’

CAAT is not alone. The student campaigning network People & Planet, the Student Christian Movement and Students for Justice in Palestine have all condemned the involvement of arms firms in higher education.


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