Durham Students for Palestine protest STEM careers fair
By Hugh Ludford, Isla Mustin & Abigail Tobias
Durham University’s STEM careers fair was protested by the student activism group Durham Students for Palestine. The group was campaigning against the annual careers fair featuring companies which it claims are “complicit in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.”
Durham’s STEM Careers week, between the 6th and the 10th of October, featured companies the group claims are contributing to the Israeli Government. These include manufacturers BAE Systems, the RAF and Caterpillar, as well as consulting and technology firms including Accenture, Arm, Reckitt, WSP UK and Frazer-Nash Consultancy.
DFSP accused the University of “trying to hide the presence” of these companies, claiming that by not listing all the organisations set to attend the fair on their website, including BAE Systems, Caterpillar and the RAF, the University “knows it’s complicit, yet chooses to hide its collaborations rather than cut ties.”
DSFP Spokesperson – Durham University “knows it’s complicit, yet chooses to hide its collaborations rather than cut ties.”
A Durham University spokesperson said: “A significant part of the University’s role is to support students to progress to successful careers. We always help our students understand the opportunities available to them and make informed choices about their future. We reject the claims made by the group quoted by Palatinate.”
A small group of Student DSFP members were positioned outside the fair, held in the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) to protest the inclusion of these organisations. DSFP leafleted those attending the STEM Careers Fair and stated that the University was allowing companies they describe variously as “complicit in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians” and “famously genocidal”.
Speaking at a vigil the following day, a spokesperson for DSFP told a crowd of approximately 50 individuals that “they [Durham University] know that these are destructive and immoral companies to be collaborating with”, accusing the University of “remov[ing] any advertisements of [said companies] coming to their Careers Fair from the website.”
Palatinate has not seen evidence for or against these claims.
Companies present at the fair had to pay for their stalls, either choosing a Standard (£180 + VAT), Premium (£450 + VAT) or Fair Sponsorship Stall (£900 + VAT), all with 10% “early bird” rates for bookings made before August. Booking for the most expensive stalls includes, free of charge, “additional benefits” – either an employer-led event on or before fair day or a digital marketing package for the week preceding the event. The event was attended by around 1500 students according to Durham University.
On the University’s website, the form for booking these stalls is accompanied by a clause acknowledging the potential risks of student demonstrations at such events.
“Durham University (Careers and Enterprise Service) is committed to providing an impartial and inclusive service that supports all students to explore their career or entrepreneurial ambitions. On occasion, there may be businesses, industries and employers in attendance at an organised activity, event or fair with whom some of the university community might choose to demonstrate their disagreement.
“On occasion, there may be businesses, industries and employers in attendance at an organised activity, event or fair with whom some of the university community might choose to demonstrate their disagreement”
From a statement on the University website
“We fully respect the right of students to express their views peacefully, and the University will take appropriate steps to manage any associated risks appropriately and proportionately. Where appropriate, participating organisations will be asked to provide a risk assessment and ensure their representatives are suitably briefed and prepared for engagement with our diverse student community.”
Following the STEM Careers Fair, DSFP ran a feedback campaign, encouraging members to fill out the Fair’s feedback form with a “recommended message”:
“I’m deeply disappointed that the university I pay fees for is funneling [sic] its brilliant minds into genocidal careers. Companies such as BAE systems, Caterpillar, Royal Air Force, Accenture, Arm, Reckitt, WSP, Frazer-Nash are complicit in genocide. Associating with them risks the university being complicit too. Not only this but their work chips away at human rights, brutalising large populations and the environment, and creating a less equal world.
“They do this through direct production or owning and investing in capital that furthers these ventures. I don’t want a university that encourages it’s students into such careers that contribute nothing of value in the world.”
“I don’t want a university that encourages it’s students into such careers that contribute nothing of value in the world.”
– from the recommended message of DSFP’s feedback campaign
A Durham spokesperson stated: “Our Careers and Enterprise Centre provides a professional, comprehensive, accessible, and ethical service. In doing so, it follows guidance from the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)”
The STEM Careers Fair was attended by nearly 1,500 students. A very small number, fewer than ten, distributed leaflets outside the event.”
Asked the following day what a student considering a career in one of the companies targeted by DFSP should do, a spokesperson for the group highlighted graduating students must “ask yourself, in the long term … is it beneficial to put yourself in the position where you’re where you’re perpetuating [“the wrongs and evils of all these companies”], or is it more beneficial for you in the long term to do something that you can be proud of and … something that’s not going to come under massive fire soon for its involvement in genocide.”
In addition to the careers fair protest there was an additional vigil hosted outside the Bill Bryson Library the following day. Around 50 individuals appeared at the vigil, which included members of three groups; Durham UCU, DSFP and Durham Palestine Solidarity.
After this event, one attendee – a first year – told Palatinate that “like all protests, me being there as an individual, it’s not going to help anything. But numbers show something, and even though we’re sure we achieved nothing there, ultimately, it’s better to turn up than not turn up, in my opinion … I went along because I believe very strongly in the cause and that seems like the first step, at least.”
“I think the communication of the whole thing could have been a bit better orchestrated” they added, “it was a sort of information blackout this morning… there was no post, no stories or anything, so it was a bit difficult.”
“Ultimately, it’s better to turn up than not turn up, in my opinion … I went along because I believe very strongly in the cause and that seems like the first step, at least.”
– a first year protest attendee
Palatinate spoke to one of the vigil’s main speakers, a third year student associated with DSFP, about the aims of their vigil. “We need to make it more inconvenient for [Durham University] to carry on with these things than to quit them, like to cease their support for genocide and for displacement and destruction.”
Cover image, Hugh Ludford
