Warwick Students' Union 1975 occupation of Senate House and the Telephone Exchange
In 1975, Warwick Students' Union occupied Senate House (then the main admin hub of the university) and the Telephone Exchange for 3.5 weeks throughout April and May due to the rising cost of rent across university accomodation. This occupation followed the 1975 rent strike, and led to the 1975 occupation of Warwick Arts Centre.
Background
The "Warwick Files Affair" and Senate House
- See also: Warwick Files Affair
In February 1970, during a Warwick SU occupation of the Registry Building - then the administrative hub of the university - students uncovered files show that the university administration was conducting routine surveillance on students and staff. This high-profile incident has come to be known as the "Warwick Files Affair".[1] This incident set the tone for the many disagreements between the university and its students in the years to come.
By May 1973, construction had begun on a new administrative building, Senate House.[2] Speaking in 2004, Christopher Zeeman, founding professor of the Warwick Mathematics Institute and strong supported of the students and the SU on most issues, said that the building was built "like a fortress, so as to be able to defend it against the students",[3] likely as a way of preventing the "Warwick Files Affair", or something similar, from re-occuring.
The 1975 rent strike
- See also: Warwick Students' Union 1975 rent strike
University accommodation fell under the remit of a nation-wide rent freeze until the start of 1975.[4] This meant that, for the first term of the 1974-1975 academic year, rents were frozen at a level deemed to be affordable. However, while the freeze continued for other types housing, the rent freeze ended for student accommodation at the start of the second term.[5] The university was making a loss on accommodation at this time due to the loan-based system through which most accommodation blocks were financed.[6] Hence, following the end of the rent freeze, rents were increased. The increases are sumarised below:[7]
| Accommodation type | Weekly rents in term 1 | Weekly rents in terms 2 & 3 | Increase | Percentage increase (1 d.p.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rootes Hall self-catered with cleaning |
£4.92 | £6.50 | £1.58 | 31.1% |
| Tocil Flats, Whitefields, Cryfield Flats self-catered |
£3.99 | £5.40 | £1.41 | 35.3% |
| Cryfield Hall included 5 evening meals per week |
£6.18 | £7.90 | £1.72 | 27.8% |
| Average | £5.03 | £6.60 | £1.57 | 31.2% |
These increases were considered too much by the student population, who argued that it wasn't inline with recent 1974 increase to the student grant of 25%,[nb 1][7][8][9] so, in a Union General Meeting on Tuesday 2 December 1974, it was decided to begin a rent strike from the start of term 2.[10]
The occupation
By the start of term 3, over 1200 students were part of the rent strike. However, members of the SU Executive had concerns over potentially victimisation of students involved. In particular, the university threatened to deny accommodation for the next academic year for those part of the strike, and even to deny degrees to those graduating who were participating. Over the Easter break, the executive discussed the optionas available to them and eventually decided to propose an occupation of Senate House and the Telephone Exchange. Sure enough, on the first day of term 3, Monday 21 April, a Union General Meeting (UGM) attended by over 700 students in the Aiport Lounge (one of the main social spaces at the time) voted to occupy the two buildings until the following four demands were met:
- freeze the term 2 rent,
- negotiate the term 3 tent,
- have no victimisation,
- keep the rent strike separate from other issues.
During the meeting, a student named Mike Adam adopted a devil's advocate position, warning the student body of the potential negative outcomes of the occupation. These included the possibilities of:
- payments of grants being delayed - while the motion did not propose to occupy the Finance Office, it could be assumed that the administration would abandon the building entirely, even the un-occuped portions;
- the on-campus postal service being delayed;
- examinations being delayed or canceled;
- staff wages being payed late.
Despite these concerns, the motion passed roughly 5 to 1.[11]
Following the UGM, roughly 400 students marched on Senate House.[11] Writing in 2004, Christopher Zeeman, said that the students were able to gain access to the building by climbing in through the ventilation fan of the Vice-Chancellor's private toilet, which had been added to the otherwise fortress-like building as an afterthought.[3] This could be a misremembering of the events as The Warwick Boar No. 37 (a special edition devoted almost entirely to the occupation) claimed instead that the students initially gained entry through an open window.[11] The attached photo[12] shows students going through a window into the Vice-Chancellor's offices,[13][nb 2] partially corroborating Zeeman's story.
Aftermath
to be added
Ultimately, the rent strike and occupations were unsuccesful, with rents rising further at the start of the 1975-1976 academic year:[7] to be added
Gallery
to be added
Footnoes
- ↑ At this time, students received a grant which they did not have to pay back, instead of a loan. There are arguments to be made that this increase was fair.[6] See Warwick Students' Union 1975 rent strike for more details.
- ↑ The upper portion of the window shown in the photo is 3 bricks tall, and the window meets a wall to it's left at a 90° angle. The only window matching this description on the building is currently borded up, but is located on the second floor and looks into what used to be part of the Vice-Chancellor's offices.[13]
References
- ↑ "Introduction to the New Edition" by Hugo Radice (October 2013), part of Warwick University Ltd (2nd ed.), edited by E. P. Thompson, pages i-iii, published by Spokesman Books (2013-12-18), ISBN 9780851248295.
- ↑ "BUILDINGS" (May 1973), part of Notes for Students, pages 68-69 (inside back cover), published by the University of Warwick (October 1974). Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/S/NS/10.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Early History of the Warwick Mathematics Institute" by Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman, FRS (June 2004), part of The Histories of Mathematics & Statistics at Warwick, page 12, published by the University of Warwick. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16. Accessed on 2025-08-16.
- ↑ "Oh, What A Lovely Term" by Ray Earwicker (1974-12-05), part of The Warwick Boar, issue 27, edited by Ray Earwicker, page 2. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16. Accessed on 2025-08-16. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/WB/27.
- ↑ "The Rent Strike" (1974-12-05), part of The Warwick Boar, issue 27, edited by Ray Earwicker, page 6. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16. Accessed on 2025-08-16. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/WB/27.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Reactions to the Rent Strike" by Rolph Schwarzenberger (January 1975), part of University Opinion 1974-5, issue 3, pages 1-3. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/OP/5/3.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "The cost of being the Mooching Scum" (c. October 1975), part of First Years' Magazine 1975, edited by Niall Kavanagh, Gary Vaux, Godfrey Rust, page 11 (digital: 13), published by Warwick SU. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16. Accessed on 2025-08-16. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/S/HB/10.
- ↑ "Rents: the Union states its case" by Penny Mead (January 1975), part of University Opinion 1974-5, issue 3, pages 1-3. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/OP/5/3.
- ↑ "The Rent Strike: An Alternative Staff View" by James Hinton (March 1975), part of University Opinion 1974-5, issue 4, pages 1-3. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/OP/5/4.
- ↑ "Rent Strike Go Ahead" (1974-12-05), part of The Warwick Boar, issue 27, edited by Ray Earwicker, page 1. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16. Accessed on 2025-08-16. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/WB/27.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "United Action By Exec." (1975-04-29), part of The Warwick Boar, issue 37, edited by Steve Wykes, Gary Vaux, Jake Bernard, and Dave Wilby, page 1. Archived from the original on 2025-08-17. Accessed on 2025-08-17. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/WB/37.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Warwick Boar (link), issue 37, edited by Steve Wykes, Gary Vaux, Jake Bernard, and Dave Wilby (1975-04-29). Archived from the original on 2025-08-17. Accessed on 2025-08-17. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/WB/37. Page 2.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Arts Centre and Administration Building, University of Warwick" (May 1975), part of The Architectural Review, vol. CLVII, issue 939, page 270. Available in the University of Warwick Archive, Modern Records Centre, UWA/PUB/PC/1/15.
