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exeposé
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ISSUE 744 22 MAR 2023 exepose.com @Exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
“If you’re not with us, you’re against us”: Shell Out campaign continues Image: Shell Out Exeter
Dietary requirements and allergies on campus Page 3
The frank feminism of Roxane Gay Page 19 Charlie Gershinson and Oliver Lamb News Editor and Deputy Editor
S Live review: A VOID Page 21
Images (top to bottom): Livvy Mason-Myhill, Eva Blue Flickr, Jake Avery
HELL Out protested on Thursday the 9th March as their campaign against the University of Exeter’s partnership with Shell continues. The campaign group’s ‘banner drop’ took place outside the Forum as a small group of protesters played drums and held placards. Two activists read out the group’s open letter to the University and declared that “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.” The group then marched to the Northcott House car park and read out the letter again. In November, it was announced that the University had signed a fiveyear contract with Shell on a carbon sequestration project as part of the push for net zero. Shell Out’s open letter, presented in February, argues that such technologies are “unproven” and that they are intended to allow Shell to continue using fossil fuels. The letter demands that the University ends its partnership with Shell, es-
chews similar partnerships in future, and redesigns its decision-making process regarding partnerships. At the 9th March protest, the group claimed their letter had received over 300 signatures. The open letter included signatures from several societites including the Feminist Society, Be the Change, and Socialist Students. One student told Exeposé that “the University should consult students before taking decisions like this”. Another described the University’s partnership with Shell as “hypocritical” and its policies on the environment as mostly “performative”. Some students believed there was a discrepancy between the University’s image and pledges on the environment and its actions. However, one student said that “Shell have been better than most at financing green projects” and had no opposition to the partnership. There have been concerns over possible censorship by the University over the Shell Out protests. A member of Shell Out, whose name and phone number were added to the risk assessment for the event, has found that their details have been passed onto the police by the University. Exeter Students’ Guild told
Exeposé that this was the standard process for protests. Shell Out continued their campaign on Thursday the 16th March with an Instagram Live event with Alhassan Muhammad Othman, journalist and founder of Fridays for Future Sudan. When asked about the protest by Exeposé, a spokesperson from the Shell Out campaign said: “Our protest was organised to draw attention to the Shell partnership and make it clear to university management that we won’t back down however much they try to censor us. We enjoyed entertaining students at lunchtime with our joyful drumming, reading our demands, before heading to Northcott House, where the management offices are.” Shell Out go on to address the censorship they have faced throughout their campaign and in this protest, saying: “We are extremely concerned about the intensity of policing of our protest, and the fact one of our members’ mobile number was passed to the police from the risk assessment we had to complete.” When Exeposé asked for comment from societies who signed Shell Out’s open letter, a spokesperson from the
Feminist Society said: “As a society, we recognise the significant link between the climate emergency and the rights of women and other marginalised groups.” The Feminist Society went onto urge “the University of Exeter to listen to the significant concerns of the student body and stop their unethical partnership with Shell in the interest of those most affected by the climate crisis. ‘Oil money is dirty money’.” A spokesperson from the University said: “The University respects and supports each student’s right to protest, provided they do so in a safe, legal and considerate manner. The University of Exeter works with a wide range of governments, businesses and organisations to achieve our strategic objectives on the environment and climate, health and wellbeing and social justice. Agreeing research partnerships does not equate to us supporting every aspect of a partner’s activities or policies either now or in the past, but we do aim to influence the future.” Continued on page 4