Goldsmiths closes early for Easter due to a ‘flash’ occupation by Deptford Town Hall protestors

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Students have occupied Deptford Town Hall for over a week. Pic: Occupy Goldsmiths

Occupy Goldsmiths have accused the management of being “afraid” of students by closing down the university early for Easter after students staged a ‘flash’ occupation of two corridors within Goldsmith’s Richard Hoggart Building.

The protesters, who have now been occupying Deptford Town Hall for over seven days, met with Goldsmiths management representatives on March 30 and 31.

The negotiations that took place in the town hall seemingly met an impasse, as the occupation continued through to yesterday, with events and workshops being planned through April.

Yesterday saw the occupation of the student recruitment and engagement corridors within Goldsmith’s Richard Hoggart building, which lead to the evacuation of staff from the offices involved.

In response to the occupation of the building, senior management at Goldsmiths decided to close early for the Easter holidays, choosing to send staff home two days earlier than expected.

The university is normally closed from Thursday to Tuesday over Easter weekend.

In an email sent to Goldsmiths students, Goldsmith’s registrar Liz Bromley stated: “Earlier today we had to close student services due to action by a small number of students in the Richard Hoggart Building.”

In a post on their Facebook page, the occupiers said: “We did not close the office and this was done in response to our occupation, we have decided to leave because we do not want student’s services to be disrupted”.

Events planned over the next week include workshops and film screenings, as well as drag and spoken word nights on Friday. Student services are also due to re-open on Wednesday 8 April.

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