Bloodbath at Careers fair
Shell and BAE Systems get a surprise transfusion from angry students at careers event
Did you hear about those girls who threw blood at BAE and Shell representatives in the Parkinson last week? No? Well we’ve got the video.
BAE Systems –the other recipient of an impromptu blood donation – is the world’s second-largest aerospace, defence and information security company.
It was the subject of a controversial University of Leeds student union vote in 2013, when the student body voted to ban the conglomerate from campus after concerns about their business ethics.
And in 2012 students disrupted the same event by stink bombing BAE at the careers fair.
Almost as horrible as filming something in portrait mode
But last week BAE were back at the ill-fated careers event in the Parkinson building, attempting to lure soon-to-be graduates with the possibility of “getting a job” after graduation. Disgusting, I know.
This was the last straw for two passionate, young rebels who decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to douse these two multi-billion pound companies in a delightful combination of red paint and tomato juice.
Armed with yesterday’s milk carton filled to the brim with the rosy broth, the nameless students proceeded to the event in the Parkinson building and proudly proclaimed, “Blood on your hands”, as they immersed the companies’ propaganda.
They were then “escorted” away by BAE security.
University staff confiscated the students’ university cards after the demonstration but as of yet no formal punishment has been issued.
Our fearless freedom fighters have given their statement to The Tab. It appears in full below:
“Making a profit from corporations associated with such blatant social and environmental injustice is unacceptable, immoral and contradictory to our University’s own ethical codes. The University of Leeds should firstly be investing money into corporations that work to build a better world, rather than profit off its destruction, and secondly encouraging its students to consider the ethical implications of their future employment. Our actions against BAE and Shell are an attempt to make the University consider its unethical policies and hopefully enact positive change accordingly; we therefore call on the University to respect the democratic referendum of the students in 2013, which voted to remove BAE Systems from promoting its shameful cause on campus. We also hope that the University will consider removing fossil-fuel companies such as Shell, with appalling environmental devastation in Nigeria and the Arctic, from any future presence on campus. The University reported that in 2013 that it had £457,000 of investments in Shell, demonstrating just one example of how the University is failing to adhere to their own investments policy and working against the wishes of its students, who care for a safe, sustainable planet.”
Source: The Tab