THE number of London universities under occupation continued to expand as over 80 students took over an administration building at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

The new campus takeover by Free University of London emerged on Thursday evening with students releasing an extensive set of demands.

Speaking to the Star, Goldsmiths student George Venizelos said: “We are not a single isolated occupation in the south-east of London — we are part of a network of occupations.

“Students across London campuses believe that education should be run in a different way.

“We all want transparency within our university systems, we oppose the commodification of education, the secret discussions of the managers and the secret changes in our curricula that aim for the commercialisation of our universities.

“We demand democracy in our institutions, we want to be part of the decision process because it affects all of us.

“For instance, mental health counselling is to face massive cuts here at a time that Greenwich community saw three suicides this year,” he said.

“This is exactly what we oppose, profit over education, the marketisation and commodification of our universities.”

Mr Venizelos, who is currently undertaking a masters in international studies, also added that cuts in academia affected staff as well as students and the occupation wanted to address their concerns too.

The list of demands published by Occupy Goldsmiths included: “All on-campus staff, including security, to be brought in house, receive a living wage as minimum and solidified union recognition.”

The group’s statement also noted that while Goldsmiths had a “reputation as an independent and free-thinking institution,” the school had since been “drawn into the neoliberal model of higher education, emphasising managerialism and bureaucracy.”

They vowed to stay until their demands are met.

Lecturers’ union UCU sent solidarity greetings to the occupation yesterday and called for more people to join their general assemblies.

Despite the Star’s attempts to contact Goldsmiths, the university’s management has been so far silent on the issue.

Goldsmiths is now the fourth university campus to be occupied, after the London School of Economics, Central Saint Martins and King’s College London which all saw the beginning of sit-ins within the last 11 days.