UK: University of Winchester college students’ union opposes £24,000 statue of Greta Thunberg

Students of the University of Winchester are retaliating in opposition to the college’s resolution to put in a £24,000 bronze statue of Greta Thunberg, a Swedish local weather activist. While the scholars’ union demand an equal quantity be spent by the college for scholar assist, the college is busy taking delight within the set up of the bronze sculpture.
The President of Winchester Student Union, Megan Ball said that they maintain Greta Thunberg in excessive regard however clarified that the union doesn’t assist the sculpture. An announcement launched on The Winchester Student Unions’ official web site said, “The year in which this artistic piece is being delivered is one that has seen unimaginable financial impacts. Students have seen staff redundancies, library cuts and limitation of provisions. They are being charged full tuition fees for an academic year that is anything but normal. There is a crippling mental health crisis amongst students, and wellbeing services are crying out for additional support. In our view, the unveiling of this statue next week shows that these issues are not their (university’s) priorities.”
We’ve offered an additional Student Union replace relating to the Greta Thunberg statue (29/3/21). See our full assertion right here: https://t.co/sRIMpujzC2 pic.twitter.com/4lfD54qHBI— Winchester SU (@winchestersu) March 29, 2021
The union additionally launched a 5 level movement describing the statue as a ‘vanity project’. The assertion launched highlighted that the funds ought to have been spent to stop redundancies and pay cuts. The union additionally condemned the shortage of transparency within the decision-making course of.
We have simply handed the next movement relating to @_UoW’s resolution to spend £24k on a statue of Greta Thunberg after years of austerity @winchestersu @dailyecho @hantschronicle: pic.twitter.com/CeDOCCqJe4— Winchester UCU (@WinchesterUCU) March 24, 2021
Some college students took to Twitter to register their protest in opposition to the statue and condemned the monetary administration executed by the college.
The proven fact that the University of Winchester can put cash right into a statue of Greta Thunberg as a substitute of caring for their college students and their workers genuinely appalls me, I at present attend the uni and their dealing with of all the pieces at my three years of attending has been terrible (1/?)— TJ Howard (@TJHowardUwU) March 26, 2021
I’m Meg. I attend the University of Winchester and I’m a primary yr undergrad scholar. Our uni is at present within the press for paying £24k for a statue of Greta Thunberg. Greta is an inspiration however has nothing to do with our uni (continued)— Megan🏳️‍🌈 (@Edgar_AllanHoe) March 27, 2021
Apart from the scholars, some locals and different customers too expressed their displeasure over the choice.
The new Greta Thunberg statue in Winchester is likely to be the worst factor I’ve ever seen— George Rolls (@gwrolls) March 28, 2021
As per a BBC report, the statue was commissioned in 2019 and funded via cash allotted to the development of the £50m West Downs Centre improvement, the place the sculpture stands at present.
Clarifying about the price incurred within the making of the statue, the college’s vice-chancellor, Professor Joy Carter mentioned, “No money was diverted from student support or from staffing to finance the West Downs project. Indeed, the university has spent £5.2m this year on student support.”
While Professor Carter agrees that Greta Thunberg is a controversial determine, he says, “We welcome debate and critical conversations.”
The statue is the primary life-sized depiction of the 18-year-old Swedish faculty drop-out, who gained worldwide consideration after protesting in opposition to local weather change in 2018 with the assistance of a widespread PR marketing campaign. She enjoys widespread media consideration, to the purpose of adulation and reverence, whereas by no means providing any ‘solutions’ and refusing to reply questions on sensible options to the local weather disaster.
Recently, Greta confronted stark criticism after she voiced assist for the politically-powerful Indian farmers who’ve been opposing the Indian authorities’s long-sought farm reforms. Many consultants worldwide questioned the irony, as a result of the ‘farmers’ she was supporting are staunch adherents of environmentally dangerous and high-emissions practises of stubble burning, overuse of fertilisers, water-level depletion and way more.