Staff participating in Dundee University graduation ceremonies claim they were prevented from wearing protest sashes against the latest round of job cuts.
Principal Nigel Seaton announced last week that 190 more jobs were to be axed as a part of a strategy to save the university £20 million.
Signs of protest against this have already been seen across the university campus, with etchings of “Stop the Cuts” and “Seaton Must Go” graffitied near the Tower building.
At the graduation ceremonies on Wednesday morning, some staff wore pink sashes stating the message “Stop the Cuts”.
When the first ceremony was due to begin around 10am, the procession came to a halt when staff who were wearing sashes claim they were confronted at the door and asked to remove them.
One eyewitness claimed that the people wearing the sashes were told that if they did not remove the sashes, they would all be asked to leave.
Staff responded collectively that if any individuals were removed for wearing the “wrong” colours, the rest would withdraw. Eyewitnesses described it as a “stand off” between the two parties.
The disagreement reached a dead end, delaying the start of the ceremony by around five to ten minutes, with event staff said to be unsure how to proceed.
A compromise was eventually reached. Staff laid the sashes across their laps once seated in the hall, so they remained visible from the stage, and held them up in front of themselves as they left.
It is worth noting that the University Executive Group are not said to have raised any objection to the sashes being worn.
‘We would not be allowed inside’
A staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Jute Journal: “Those of us with sashes initially put them on when we were queued up outside on the square.
“We were told by the staff involved in running graduation we would not be allowed inside with them on.
“We were then challenged by another member of staff. We were told we could not wear the sashes.”
They called the reasons for not being allowed to wear the protest sashes “vague” and mostly centred around it not being part of ceremonial dress.
“Many of us were in violation of the stated ceremonial dress code – men without the white bow ties, colourful shirts and tops,” they argued.
The staff were then allowed to carry the pink sashes in but not wear them.
“I am angry at being treated like this,” they said.
“Those with power say they respect the right to protest – but in some other place, at some other time, and preferably quietly.
“Our students and their parents, family, deserve to know how we’re being treated and why we’re fighting to retain our jobs.”
‘It is akin to censorship’
An anonymous senior university source said: “It was an encroachment on freedom of speech and expression.
“It has been trampled on. It is akin to censorship”
Another anonymous member of staff said: “I was really shocked at how aggressively they tried to put their foot down and stop us from having our own freedom of expression.”
A Dundee University spokesperson said: “Graduation is a formal celebration of the achievements of our students, now graduates.
“There is a dress code for those processing and taking a place on the stage at Graduation, and it is for academic dress only.
“Staff were informed of this and respectfully asked to adhere to the code.”