The NSW parliament should hold a public inquiry into the management of the University of Wollongong, the NSW Greens have said, following the Ramsay Centre's $50 million entry onto campus.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In an opinion piece published in tomorrow Mercury, MP David Shoebridge said parliament "now needs to do its job and after the March state election immediately establish an open public inquiry into its management".
Academics are angry that UOW had accepted a Ramsay Centre-funded degree in Western Civilisation without consulting staff.
But UOW Liberal Club president Jasper Brewer felt the university had made the right move.
“The course is fantastic,” Brewer told the Mercury.
“We are funding education. We are investing in educating students on the pillars of Australia, western civilisation and suddenly people want to shut it down….not because of academia and not because of the degree in itself but for political reasons.”
He said those against the degree, including fellow UOW student and WUSA (Wollongong Undergraduate Student Association) president Chloe Rafferty, were taking issue because there were conservative people putting their weight behind the degree.
The Ramsay Centre is headed by John Howard and the course has the backing of Tony Abbott.
“I don’t feel people should be trying to shut down free speech on campus and shut down educational opportunities for students just because they disagree with the politicians and the people who were behind establishing this degree to begin with,” Brewer said.
“I feel like it is taking away from the students purely to score political points.”
Rafferty though felt students and staff had every right to feel betrayed by a deal which was “a massive attack on academic freedom and the credibility of the humanities at UOW”.
“I think there is going to be a big backlash from students and staff because Ramsay Centre is a right-wing think tank that have been going around universities around the country trying to buy up degrees to push their socially conservative agenda,” she said.
“So far the ANU has rejected them and I think we should reject them too.
“We should have publicly funded, publicly driven, student and academic driven education.
“John Howard and Tony Abbott shouldn’t be able to buy up a degree and have control over staff, control over course content...which is what the Ramsay Centre wants.”