Protesting at Imperial
Kelly Osborne on why she feels the need to protest
What protests have you been to recently?
The last protests I went to were some of the student cuts protests last year. The student cuts protests were genuinely intimidating so I haven’t attended recently.
Why do you feel the need to protest?
I feel it is another way to express your opinion in a democratic society, where other mechanisms of getting your voice heard, such as writing to your local MP, feel like they are getting nowhere.
Do you think the protests regarding the changes to the current student finance system so far have achieved anything?
I think they have allowed people to express their genuine outrage at an elitist system that will harm the lower middle classes opportunities of higher education, which is important. But I also feel they have been counterproductive in that they have been infamous for violence and general idiotic behaviour by the minority of people.
Do I think the current government will change their minds about the increasing fees over the protests?
Not unless it proves to be economic for them.
Why do you think that Imperial is politically inactive compared to other universities?
I read recently that scientists, and male scientists in particular, are less likely to display empathy than the general population. (From Matt Ridley’s, Nature via nurture) A lack of empathy could lead to apathy on issues that do not directly affect you, and so I think imperial students are often from privileged backgrounds where cuts on education or rising food prices due to climate change won’t affect them.
I also think it has become unfashionable, other ways of expressing annoyance are preferred. And of course everyone is very busy and stressed.
Do you think that Imperial should in fact be more active and whose responsibility is that?
I don’t think people should be forced to protest, I think people should care about the issues at hand and so use their initiative to go to protests, if they feel the issues would benefit from that sort of complaint. Maybe its society’s responsibility to shape future generations to be less indifferent? Although I’m not trying to say that not protesting makes you indifferent.
They have allowed people to express their genuine outrage at an elitist system that will harm the lower middle classes opportunities of higher education, which is important.
