Students trespassed on Manawatū campus for chalking against cuts

Two students were trespassed and followed off the Manawatū campus on open day after chalking “save our papers” outside the library and science buildings. 

The chalking on Wednesday was part of the Students Against Cuts campaign against the gutting of the university, affecting academic, administrative, and facilities staff. 

One staff member was also trespassed and escorted off campus for watching and recording the interaction with security. 

In a video sent to Massive, the security guard was seen saying, “you’re no longer welcome on the university”. He did not specify if this was a permanent trespass or not. 

A student responded, “But we are students with internal courses.”

The guard replied, “that's the consequences … you conducted vandalism”. 

The students were acting out after all staff were invited to express an interest in voluntarily redundancy, and new policies had come to cut low enrolment courses. 

Both the students and the staff member were unsure whether attending lectures will result in being hauled off campus. 

Massey security stated they would be paying contracted cleaners to remove the chalk, despite the rainy weather. 

The guard told the staff member that he was an “active participant” because he was recording the interaction, despite not chalking with the students. 

Trespassed student J* said security kept saying the chalking “wasn’t ideal” but wouldn’t confirm if they had the authority to tell them to stop. 

“We were not just escorted but followed off campus,” security vans followed them until they were off campus. 

Despite the security wanting to give them a verbal trespass, the students demanded a written trespass and were taken into a room by security to talk. 

Some Students Against Cuts and Tertiary Education Union members had been chalking against the cuts previously without being trespassed. 

The students didn’t think the open day would make any difference to if they were allowed to chalk, “especially as internal students”.

J* said security wanted to know where they parked, and felt the security may have been trying to intimidate them by knowing where they would be if they come back on campus. 

“Obviously they’re not willing to listen, they’re not willing to have a conversation. And now we try to speak up in chalk and we’re trespassed off campus.”

Students Against Cuts and the Tertiary Education Union are holding a joint student-staff Stop the Cuts forum next Wednesday 9th at 12pm. The forum will be online and in-person at Massey campuses - for more information contact stopthecutsmassey@gmail.com.

*Name shortened to protect anonymity