If you ask a random student on campus if they know about any upcoming RUSU events, they’ll probably look at you like you’re speaking simlish.
They might also be part of the club that skips the Campus Buzz emails that perfectly summarises upcoming campus events (did you know that there’s a Student Dance Competition on the 17th of October?). They’re probably part of the majority who didn’t bother to vote in the RUSU elections earlier in September 2024, as out of all the 91,000 RMIT students, only 5,100 voted for positions such as General Secretary, Education Officer, etc.
They probably have no idea about the upcoming campus policy changes.
The Bulletin Board in Property Management (Version 5, Draft 4) outlines new and renewed clauses, including clause 25, which forces staff and students to ‘undertake and submit a risk assessment’ to the Executive Director of Property Services for any ‘protests events or related activities’.
Other clauses are rather worrying. Clause 26 grants the same person full power to refuse or withdraw approval of ‘interviews, meetings or conference rooms’ (such as student-led political meetings) if the risk assessment is deemed ‘unlawful’ or ‘prejudiced’. Clause 39 also disapproves and prohibits activities such as ‘camp, reside or sleep rough’ if it’s not approved beforehand.
These clauses are, coincidentally, introduced after protests and encampments that directly call out against RMIT’s ties against weapon manufacturers through Buildings 12’s Sir Lawrence Wackett Defence and Aerospace Centre, a research facility for ‘aerospace, aviation and related disciplines’. Some of their partners are directly arming Israel’s war crimes against Palestine including, BAE systems and Lockheed Martin.
The majority of RMIT students’ disinterest and collective numbness over the current zeitgeist of political campaigns and activities on campus allows the suggested policy changes to go under the radar. In other words, most RMIT students are unaware of these anti-protest policies. Looking through my school email, I haven’t even received about the policy changes. I had to find out through @rmit_students_for_palestine on Instagram during an exhausting Sunday morning shift. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you are interested in politics, because politics will happen to you regardless.
These changes don’t just impact the Pro-Palestinian meetings and protests, they’ll impact every aspect of your university life, extending to the very people that teach you. Earlier in June 2024, my lecturers participated in a strike and rallied outside Building 1 to push for better working conditions. If these proposed policies had been in place back in June, it would’ve been nearly impossible to organise the rally.
We don’t know what the future holds, but it’s possible to say that during these uncertain times, our education, our campus and our peers are under RMIT’s mercy and its decisions (even if these decisions come with good intentions). If these anti-protest policies are put in place, then the possibility of representing our disapproval of RMIT’s current and future decisions is at risk.
Feedback on the expected policies is due on the 11th of October. There’s still time to comment on the Bulletin Board opposing these policies to separate yourself from just ‘another RMIT student’ and take control of what really happens on campus.
By Mahal Cuya
Header image via Ryan Wong