Student occupations bring prospect of Spring Thunder to United Kingdom

A wave of student occupations in solidarity with the people of Gaza is continuing to spread across Britain like a prairie fire.

The spark lit in Greece in 2008 has found it way to the United kingdom A new round of occupations has been inspired by successful protests and occupations at Soas and LSE in London and Essex University. The first three occupations have all ended now, as their main demands have been met.

The demands put forward by individual universities are similar, but vary depending on the specific circumstances of each institution. See Cardiff demands below.

UPDATE ! UPDATE ! Ongoing occupations:

Manchester University - 4th February - . Occupied space - John Owen Building (4th-6th February) and central sorting office (5th-6th February) - later moved to the Simon building (6th February -)

Byam Shaw - 18th February - . Occupied space - the main building at the Byam Shaw School of Art, 2 Elthorne Road.

UEL - 18th February - . Occupied space - a lecture theatre.

St Andrews- 18th February - . Occupied space - Lower College Hall.

Plymouth - 5pm 23rd February 2009 - . Occupied space - Room 202 in the Smeaton building.

UAL - (late in the evening) 23rd February 2009 - . Occupied space - A lecture theater on the LCC campus.

Cardiff - 12pm 24th February 2009 - . Occupied space - Shandon Large Lecture in the Main Building

UPDATE ! UPDATE ! Finished Occupations

Finished occupations:
SOAS 13th - 14th January. Occupied space - Brunei Gallery Suite.
LSE - 15th - 23rd January. Occupied space - LTB 04.
Essex - Friday 16th - Sunday 18th January. Occupied space - LTB.
King’s College - 20th January - 1st February. Occupied space - lecture theatre at Strand campus.
Birmingham - 20th January - 20th January. Occupied space - Arts LR4.
Sussex - 20th January - 28th January. Occupied space - Arts A2 lecture theatre.
Warwick - 22nd January - 30th January. Occupied space - room S0.21 of Social Studies.
Manchester Met 22nd January - 23rd Janaury. Occupied space - the Geoffrey Manton building.
Oxford- 23rd January - 23rd Janaury. Occupied space - Bodleian building.
Leeds - 22nd January - 31st Janaury. Occupied space - the Botany House building.
Cambridge - 23rd January - 1st February. Occupied space - the Law Faculty.
Sheffield Hallam- 28th January - 1st February. Occupied space - tenth floor of the Owen building.
Bradford - 27th January - 28th Janaury. Occupied space - university board room, adjacent to the vice chancellor’s office.
Nottingham - 28th January - 1st February. Occupied space - lecture theatre B62
Queen Mary- 27th January - 4th February. Occupied space - Room 1.13 of the Frances Bancroft building.
Strathclyde- 4th February - 5th February. Occupied space - the McCance Building.
The University of Rochester - 6th February - 7th February. Occupied space - Goergen BME Building.
Glasgow - 8th February - 11th February. Occupied space - the top floor of the Computer Science building.
Goldsmiths - 11th February - 13th February. Occupied space - Deptford Town Hall (university owned).
Edinburgh - 11th February - 16th February. Occupied space - George Square Lecture Theatre.
UEA - 11th February - 12th February . Occupied space - the Arts building.
NYU- 18th February 2009 - 2pm 21st February 2009. Occupied space - The Marketplace - 3rd floor of the Kimmel Center.
UWE - 18th February 2009 - 20th February 2009 . Occupied space - at first lecture theatre 2B25 until they were locked out and then they occupied the atrium area outside of lecture theatres 2B25 and 2B20.