No demonstration: in front of the Rectorate of the University of Cagliari, this morning, there were only the police. But the students, who did not show up during the session of the academic senate, did not give up sending their message to the Magnificent Francesco Mola.
And they sent him a long letter: « The buildings where we should be studying are barely standing, threatening our right to study and our very lives every day», reads the text signed by Sa Retza de Is Istudiantes, UniCa per la Palestina, UniCa Lgbt, UniGCom Sardegna, «the most marginalized students are practically left to themselves: fees continue to rise, harassment of female students is the order of the day, many buildings remain inaccessible to those with motor disabilities, student mobility programs draw a line between foreign students residing in European countries and all the others, and alias careers are activated only after exhausting months of waiting. Instead of solving these serious critical issues, the University neglects its students and continues to maintain various collaborations with the state of Israel».
The reference is to the latest protest at the Palace of Sciences: "We had a first-hand experience of militarization during our protests in the presence of Alex Bronstein, a visiting professor from the Technion in Haifa. During these days, we found the presence of carabinieri in riot gear inside the University. Access was blocked to anyone who did not belong to the faculties to which the building is assigned, with a request to identify themselves with a university card at the entrance, which also disturbed the normal course of lessons."
The collapses, then: «The structural condition of all the university campuses presents several evident flaws, including collapses in the plaster in numerous classrooms, emergency exits out of order and water infiltrations coming from the ceiling. In particular, these problems have affected classroom 1B of the psychology building of Sa Duchessa, which, in recent weeks, has placed the students and teachers who attended it in dangerous situations, causing great discomfort and worries, so much so that several lessons have had to be interrupted. Furthermore, the canteen buildings are also problematic: in via Trentino, again recently, some panels that made up the false ceiling fell . We want serious investigations to be carried out as soon as possible».
Students also raise issues of accessibility for the disabled. But they also ask for greater attention for LGBT people: "We feel, as a student body, the need to experience a university environment that is the same for everyone, accessible in terms of facilities and teaching. We do not want integration but equality and change." And again: "In this University, the mental health of the student body is completely neglected, ignored and set aside. Of course, they have provided us with three psychologists for thousands of students, which is not enough to cover even half of one of the smallest classrooms we have if we really want to help each individual student."
(Online Union)