The University of Western Sydney University Board of Trustees has officially proposed closing UWSU's Blacktown Nirimba campus by 2009. The university administration claims that the closure is due to a decline in student numbers (not surprising since the administration has cut most degrees at the campus) and financial constraints (despite a $36 million surplus in 2006). According to a June 16 report on ABC's Stateline, Blacktown has one of Australia's fastest growing populations.
The proposed closure will force 2700 students, along with staff, to transfer to UWSU's Parramatta and Penrith campuses.
The June 20 Sydney Morning Herald reported UWSU Student Association (UWSUSA) general secretary Julian Ochoa as saying the closure was not "'not a bad thing', as long as infrastructure was built up on the other campuses". Ochoa claims he was misquoted. He told Green Left Weekly that UWSUSA was not waging a fight to keep the campus because of a lack of resources.
"UWSUSA should not be publicly supporting the demise of the Blacktown campus", said Geoff Brown, UWSUSA's student advocate and welfare officer. Brown told GLW that the Blacktown community had been organising to make clear that they opposed the closure and Blacktown Mayor Leo Kelly was campaigning to keep the campus open. Brown said: "UWSUSA should be camped out there at Blacktown campus ... There needs to be a public back flip by the executive on this matter otherwise [UWSUSA] will have no credibility left."
Author's note: Originally posted in Green Left Weekly issue 715. Originally published in Mr Rev Comrade Rowley's deadname. Western Sydney University has corrected its name and shouldn't be dead named. Western Sydney University Student Association has corrected its name and shouldn't be deadnamed. Reposted here without alteration of the content and without prejudice.
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