STUDENTS occupied the offices of Birmingham university bosses yesterday in defiance of a crackdown on their right to protest. 

Free education campaigners eluded security in the early hours of the morning, occupying the university’s Aston Webb Building, where the vice-chancellor’s office is. 

In a public statement the 40 occupiers demanded a retraction of Professor David Eastwood’s comments against education grants, as well as the reinstatement of three sanctioned student activists. 

A spokesperson for the occupation told the Star that the action was “really about taking that space, saying we are not OK with this.” 

She relayed the support of other Birmingham students who have expressed their solidarity on campus as well as online. 

Third-year mechanical engineering student Kitty Howse said: “I wholeheartedly support the protest.

“Students have to reclaim our campus for our own.”

She added that the occupation opened a debate “not only about free education, but also the right to protest.”

As the Star has previously reported, Birmingham free education campaigners Simon Furse and Kelly Rogers found themselves suspended after being involved in campus occupations last year.

Additionally, former University of Birmingham Guild of Students vice-president Hattie Craig was threatened with severe sanctions were she to participate in direct action on campus again. 

University management argued it was “extremely disappointed” with yesterday’s events.

A spokesperson for the institution insisted that “universities are places of free speech and we respect the rights of our students and staff to protest peacefully.”

Campaigners argued that previous experience had shown that  Birmingham bosses were unprepared to sit down and talk, preferring to send in security guards, police and bailiffs to remove protesters. 

“They’ve never even tried to negotiate with us, they’ve just always kicked us out,” said the group’s spokesperson.

The occupation comes exactly a week before a national day of action for free education on December 3.

National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts member Deborah Hermann said: “This occupation demonstrates that students refuse to be repressed and we hope to see more actions like this.”

Occupiers vowed to stay until they were physically forced to leave. 

joanaramiro@peoples-press.com