The MU stands in solidarity with our sister trade unions and students fighting to save jobs and courses at the University of Nottingham. Photo: The MU.
MU Royalties Official Jessica Craig and MU Midlands Regional Services Assistant Jenny Simpson attended the rally outside the university’s Trent Building ahead of a meeting of its governing body, at which proposals affecting more than 600 jobs and a wide range of courses are due to be considered.
The MU has previously reported on the issue and published an open letter to the university expressing deep concern over its decision to suspend music courses for new entrants.
MU stands in solidarity
Although unable to attend in person, Stephen Brown, MU Midlands Regional Organiser, sent the following message of solidarity to be read at the demonstration:
"The MU stands in solidarity with our sister trade unions and students fighting to save jobs and courses at the University of Nottingham.
"Across the Higher Education sector we are seeing a deluge of job cuts and course cuts which is the inevitable consequence of Universities monetising education and trying to turn education into a business committed to profit and not furthering knowledge. Nottingham, sadly, is no exception.
"Those of us working in music and the creative sector have seen the arts most dramatically affected as we are one of the first things to be savaged by Universities looking for savings to balance the books. Arts course after arts course has gone, music course after music course has gone, and in Nottingham we see the prospect of the axing of 42 courses including music.
"The music department at Nottingham is one of the finest in the country with an enviable international reputation. It serves the University, it serves the local community, and it has acted as a talent pipeline for the music industry and supports the whole cultural eco-structure of the East Midlands.
"If it goes, it’s gone forever, the kind of quasi music club the University suggested in its place is like having to eat gruel after feasting on caviar. There’s no comparison. Its loss will cost jobs, it will deprive students, it will starve culture of sustenance, and it will depress the music sector not just in Nottingham but the wider East Midlands – which is already the worst funded region for the arts in England.
"Like Stella Adler famously said, 'Life beats down and crushes the soul, and art reminds you that you have one.' Losing these courses, and in particular music, is like the University beating us down and crushing our soul.
"The MU is with you in this fight, I’m just sorry that duty calls me elsewhere today doing similar fighting to save musicians jobs.
"In solidarity comrades. Stephen Brown, MU Midlands Regional Organiser."
The bigger picture
The proposed cuts at the University of Nottingham come against a wider backdrop of pressure on arts education, with creative subjects marginalised in schools under the last Government, fewer students progressing into university arts courses, and departments coming under growing financial strain.
This is why the MU has partnered with the National Education Union (NEU) on the Arts and Minds campaign, which is calling for the arts to be restored as a core part of every child’s education. While the campaign has helped put the issue back on the Government’s agenda, sustained investment and long-term reform are still needed to turn that commitment into reality.
Alongside this campaigning work, the MU has also today launched the Championing University Music Toolkit in collaboration with Music Mark (the UK association for music education). The new resource offers practical guidance to help university music departments demonstrate their educational and cultural value, and make a strong case for their future.
MU members are encouraged to support the Arts and Minds campaign by signing its open letter to Government, and to find out more about the Championing University Music Toolkit and its launch.