Student protestors have disrupted a campus careers fair by forcing employer Aviva to leave.
On Thursday 10 October, three student groups held a rally at the University of York Graduate Careers Fair. Nouse understands that this was part of a national programme of protests, walkouts and demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine.
The student groups in attendance were York Action for Student Solidarity, the York Encampment and Palestinian Solidarity Society. Whilst these groups were responsible for the organisation of the rally, the disruption that followed was carried out independently.
At 11.30am, between 50 and 90 protestors gathered outside of Heslington Hall. Protestors allege that three counter-protestors were reported to be on the scene in opposition to the protest. One protestor, who wishes to remain anonymous, claimed they were subjected to “verbal and physical abuse.”
At the same time, another group of students made their way up to the top of Central Hall in full view of the Careers Fair exhibitors and attendees. They unfurled a banner which read “Keep Arms Off Campus”, as well as setting off red smoke flares and chanting their support.
At midday, the protest moved across campus into the Physics Exhibition Centre, where the fair was being held. Protestors then staged a sit-in in front of the Aviva stand, using megaphones and chants to disrupt conversations and offer speeches to assembled students. This prevented many students from accessing the stand. After 30-40 minutes, Aviva abandoned their stand and left the fair.
The protestors then retired to the Roger Kirk Centre for coffee and a meeting with campus safety.
Social media adverts for the rally were titled “Genocide off campus: end complicity at the careers fair!” Protestors took issue with the presence of stalls operated by companies they allege to be complicit in genocide. This ranges from companies that produce arms who supply arms to the Israeli Defence Force, to companies who hold investments in companies that produce arms.
Even though companies such as MBDA Missile Systems, JCB and the RAF were set to be present at the fair, they dropped out at the last minute. Aviva was the only company on the protestor’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) list to arrive.
Aviva holds extensive shares held in arms manufacturers such as BAE Systems, who produce and sell arms to Israel.
Campus Safety and AGL, the company hired to provide security for the Careers Fair, did not prevent the protestors from entering the event.
A University spokesperson told Nouse that “We respect our students’ right to peaceful protest and while we know that many will have strong views about different organisations, we don’t have a policy to exclude companies from interacting with our community.”
“University careers fairs provide students with the opportunity to see who is recruiting for graduate vacancies, placement years and internships from a wide range of industries, so they can make personal, informed decisions about their future careers.”
“Because they did not want the protest to disrupt the event for other students, Aviva made the decision to leave the careers fair, and we will be speaking to Aviva to see how they can engage with our student community in the future, as we recognise students may be interested in finding out more about pursuing a career with them.”
Andrew Ferguson, Head of Student Opportunities at the University of York, spoke with members of Quaker Society, who have an agreement with the Careers Department to peacefully disagree with the presence of arms companies.
He told members that MBDA had said, regarding the “current situation”, that the company would likely not attend a careers fair at the University for another “one to two years.”
Quaker Soc also asked Ferguson why MBDA Missiles were invited every year.
He said: “A careers fair is not an endorsement of particular careers paths. It is a market-place for potential employers. Essentially, we (i.e. the University of York) are running a shop.”
“Students are capable of making their own value judgments about what careers they are interested in. They may or may not want a career in arms manufacturing, the armed forces, under-writing for these types of companies.”
“Careers Advisors’ and graduate opportunities co-ordinators’ professional body requires us to be impartial. Therefore, even if we were asked by the University to stop inviting weapons companies, it would be a breach of our professional commitment to representing all industries and employment sectors, regardless of whether our managers had moral qualms about them.”
In response to why, then, they do not invite tobacco companies, Ferguson responded: “The University has legal contracts with a series of cancer research bodies, including charities, who stipulate as part of their contract that the University shall not engage with, in any way, tobacco companies.”
In a 2023 article for The York Press, Ferguson wrote that: “Our university enriches the City, region and the wider world, seeking global impact through our creativity, innovation and influence, and our commitment to social purpose. We collaborate with businesses and other partners to identify opportunities for innovation, with a particular emphasis on addressing the pressing and emerging local and global challenges society faces.”
The Careers Service, who organise four fairs each year (including one exclusively for law students), maintain a position of impartiality:
“We are dedicated to supporting University of York students to make their own career decisions. To achieve this all colleagues within Careers and Placements carry out their duties in an impartial manner. Careers and Placements working with an employer does not constitute endorsement of the employer’s activities, culture or values. We seek to facilitate awareness of the personal values that will help shape our students’ future career decisions. This includes providing opportunities for individuals to interact with a range of employers, alumni and community partners, enabling students to acquire information and insight to help them make fully informed decisions on their future. We encourage our students to interact and learn from a variety of employers and to think critically about how organisations might potentially match their own values. Our aim is to support the development of confident, self-aware graduates, equipped to navigate lifelong careers.”
“Individuals may not agree with the aims, activities or values of all the organisations they can interact with through Careers and Placements and they may wish to let other students know that they hold different views. It is important that all our students have access to all the available information around employer issues so that they can form their own opinions based on measured, respectful debate. We uphold freedom of speech on campus in line with Regulation 10 of the University of York Ordinances and Regulations. All students have the right to protest and we welcome students respectfully discussing their views and allowing others to discuss theirs. We expect students wishing to protest to follow the University of York Guide to student protest, which includes notifying our Campus Safety Team of the planned protest to ensure we can maintain a safe, effective, and welcoming environment for all our students, staff and visitors.”
