Give Students Their Campus Back Petition

vuwsa

Thu Feb 17 2022 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Give Students Their Campus Back Petition

Thursday, 17 February 2022, 7:20 pm
Press Release: VUWSA

The Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA) urgently call the Government, Police, Wellington City Council and the University to work together to relocate the protestors from Pipitea Campus grounds and free up critical bus routes, including the 22, before the start of Trimester 1 on Monday February 28, 2022.

We call on authorities to open and provide alternative locations for protesters to camp and park their vehicles for the safety and wellbeing of our university community and the Wellington community as a whole.

Students deserve to be safe. Students deserve to be free from the risk of harm. Students deserve their campus back.

While VUWSA are firm advocates of the right to protest peacefully and believe in the importance of organising and speaking out - our students have a right to safely access their campus and education. There is no place for the harassment and intimidation which have been directed at students, staff, and the public - this is not peaceful protesting.

Since the arrival of the Freedom Convoy on February 8th, they have spilled from Parliament grounds across onto Bunny St, Molesworth St, the Lambton Interchange and Old Government Buildings. This has caused significant disruption and obstruction, making it impossible for students to safely travel to Pipitea Campus and utilise campus facilities when their classes resume on the 28th February.

We recognise the situation is complex and highly political in nature; however, we believe that our community should not have been compromised and brought into a dangerous and unwelcome situation. During a time of such COVID-19 crisis it is important that our university community can utilise our facilities and the bus routes in this city safely.

We want to see action now. Not complacency.

The petition can be viewed and signed here:

https://www.change.org/p/the-nz-government-give-vuw-students-their-campus-back

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