'Free Goldsmiths' - students occupy library against latest cuts

The ‘Free Goldsmiths’ movement began its 24-hour occupation on 19 April and students have been taking overnight shifts to sleep there, in solidarity with university staff.

The students are protesting the latest round of cuts which puts 269 staff at risk of redundancy.

Those at risk of losing their jobs include academics, and support staff including cleaners, security and maintenance staff who are essential to the day-to-day running of the university.

Goldsmiths is one of the top 10 universities in London and internationally renowned for its creative and cultural degree courses across the arts, humanities and social sciences.

But its world-class reputation is under threat as management has said the university needs to make £22m in cuts by the end of the 2026/27 academic year.

A Goldsmiths spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the university is operating in a “disrupted environment defined by declining enrolment”, adding that student numbers have fallen by more than a quarter in the last five years.

The spokesperson added: “Moreover, the funding, regulatory and policy context in England puts additional pressure on Goldsmiths because of our location in London and our academic offer.

“Without purposeful redesign, our institution will continue to face a structural financial deficit and an operating model that is not aligned with future learners, regulatory expectations or the pressing realities of our sector.”

Joe Newman, co-president of Goldsmiths University and College Union (GUCU) and a lecturer in the music department, said this is the third round of redundancies and restructuring in five years.

“It’s the biggest in terms of it impacting, right now, around one in four staff from professional services primarily, though also some academics. They are looking to make more academics redundant in the autumn term," Newman said.

“For some reason that we can’t quite fathom, management are intent on trying to save £22m in total – of which £20m will be from staff cuts.

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"The reason why we’re so confused about the large figure is they tried to save £20m two years ago, during what they called the 'transformation programme' where they saved £16.1m.”

He added: “If you cut a programme or if you sack a staff member, you don’t get that expertise back overnight. It takes years, sometimes decades to build that kind of community of students and learning in a particular area.

“And it’s what’s happened already this year in some of those areas that have been axed completely behind the scenes. The changes have gone through committees that have signed it off, but the university hasn’t really engaged staff, students or unions at all – even though we’ve been pushing to be involved in those decisions all year.”

Luca Di Ambro-Moor, a sociology student involved in the occupation, said: “We’re going [to occupy the library] for as long as we can.

"We had a notice to vacate that was put on the door a few weeks ago, but since that we’ve had nothing more."

“We’re calling their bluff in a way and waiting for them to try and take out an injunction, because obviously we’re in a library that you’re allowed to study in for 24 hours

"We’re waiting them out and we’ll keep doing this and organising around this issue.”

The LDRS asked Goldsmiths about the notice to vacate but received no response.

Di Ambro-Moor described the situation as personally “devastating” and said he feels caught in a “chaotic cycle of cuts”.

His current undergraduate course in sociology and politics actually closed two years ago, meaning he is one of only three students remaining in the final cohort.

His plans to study a Masters in Sociology have also been cut short as Goldsmiths is reportedly planning to cut 90 of its 190 postgraduate courses.

Di Ambro-Moor added: “I’ve been here since 2022 and so this is the third programme of cuts that I’ve seen at Goldsmiths.

“During the last time, most of my department was made redundant, so to have it happen again is quite shocking.”

Serena Yip, who is studying a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Curating, said: “One of the main concerns is that as the second largest workforce in Lewisham, a lot of the cuts are targeting people of colour and we’ve had staff coming in crying to us, they’ve been telling us they’ve been losing nights of sleep.

“Some of the staff are also disabled, they’re also carers of their own families which makes it very, very difficult for them to be employed anywhere else.”

Yip said during the 137-day occupation of Deptford Town Hall in 2019 which was led by a group called Goldsmiths Anti-Racist Action (GARA), campaigners successfully fought for cleaners and security workers to become in-house staff instead of being outsourced.

However, she says despite the success of the previous occupation, current demands are being “completely ignored” by management as these workers are “at risk again”.

Yip and others allege that on the same day the notice to vacate was issued, an exhibition which formed part of an end of year assessment was “torn down” just a few hours before the opening night.

Goldsmiths did not respond to this allegation.

Yip said: “We have a lot of anxiety about how this university is becoming a very hostile environment for students to express their political views through art and whether this would manifest into a practice of political censorship at Goldsmiths.

“We suspect it might also be targeted towards some of us students in BA Curating, as some of the students are also occupying for Free Goldsmiths right now.” 

Jen Crossan, a part-time anthropology student who has been at Goldsmiths since 2022, said the situation is very “anxiety-ridden” for students because “you don’t really know what’s going to happen.

“I think a lot of us are really unsure of how exactly the university and the courses are going to run with this massive cut of lecturers," she said.

“We still don’t know the full details of what it means for courses and students, but from experience we have an idea.”

A spokesperson for Goldsmiths said: “The Future Goldsmiths programme provides an integrated institution-wide plan to deliver long-term financial sustainability while preparing Goldsmiths for a transformed academic and operating environment.

“Goldsmiths is recognised and celebrated around the world, with a reputation and legacy that is the envy of many others across the UK and internationally.

“We are known for the unique contribution we make to education and society and culture more broadly.

“As we go through these changes, we will continue centring our students and their interests, outcomes, and experience to make sure they receive the best support possible to help achieve their ambitions. ”

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