La Trobe students vote for Palestine
At least 250 students crammed into the La Trobe University’s Agora cinema on 27 August to show their support for Palestine. The special general meeting was called after more than 700 students signed a petition demanding one. It was the biggest pro-Palestine meeting in La Trobe’s history, and the largest in-person general meeting in a decade.
The meeting considered three motions. One called for an immediate and just end to the war on Gaza, the second for La Trobe to cut ties with companies aiding Israel’s genocide and the third for the dismissal of the vice-chancellor for his role in inhibiting pro-Palestine activism on campus.
Socialist activist and Students for Palestine member Leanna Nguyen opened the meeting, declaring Israel’s attack on Gaza to be “the greatest crime of our generation, and every institution, including our university, has told us to keep our heads down and look away as thousands of Palestinians are murdered. Let’s make it clear today, that even if university management wants to maintain their ties to apartheid and genocide, La Trobe University students are, and always will, be pro-Palestine”.
La Trobe has ties with weapons company Honeywell and surveillance company CISCO, both of which operate on the Bundoora campus. Honeywell produces the engines for MQ-9 Reaper drones, used for reconnaissance in southern Gaza as recently as last November, while CISCO has been a part of integrating settlements in the occupied West Bank into Israel’s technology networks.
La Trobe’s vice-chancellor, Theo Farrell, is the face of La Trobe’s support for Israel’s genocide. Before coming to La Trobe, Farrell advised the UK government about its invasion of Afghanistan and helped set up the Ramsay Institute of Western Civilisation at Wollongong University. He has published numerous articles about defence and war, including the ethics of artificial intelligence in warfare, and until recently had the X handle “@warprof”.
He has made no public statement opposing Israel’s war on Gaza and has threatened discipline against students who were involved with the Gaza solidarity encampment earlier in the year. For many students, he represents everything that is wrong with the corporate university.
In the early 1970s, La Trobe students passed a similar vote of no confidence in their vice-chancellor, Archibald Glenn, for his involvement with chemical weapons used in the war on Vietnam. “There must be something in the water here at La Trobe”, said Students for Palestine activist Rory Gee, “because here we are again. Our new vice-chancellor is a warmonger too”.
All three motions passed almost unanimously, with only one vote against. The university has until the 27 September to release a statement in support of an immediate and just ceasefire.
