AFTER 212 days of occupation in protest at planned cuts, members of the Free Hetherington campaign at Glasgow University finally left the building yesterday.
Students occupied the former post-graduate club in February and were evicted by dozens of police officers on March 22. But after protests, the university allowed students to continue a peaceful occupation.
Their departure was marked with cheers, tears and an assertion it was the end of the battle, not the war.
About 100 students filed from the building, brandishing a banner and chanting against cuts. The honour of closing the door behind them was given to Stuart Rodger, 22, a former Liberal Democrat party member who appeared in court last week charged with throwing an egg, filled with blue paint, at Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in Glasgow.
Cairsti Russell, 24, a Glasgow University graduate taking a PhD in Sociology, said it was a day of mixed emotions. She added: “We got our message across quite strongly and it had got to the time where we were ready to leave.
“I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved. Nursing has been given a one-year reprieve; anthropology isn’t being cut any more, nor is the Department of Adult and Continuing Education.
“We’ve managed to save everything except Slavonics and the Crichton campus in Dumfries.
“I think we’ve provided a lot of hope for the student movement about what can be achieved and that non-violent direct actions can get results.”
Among the protestors was Sam Beaton, 22, who has just graduated with an MA in Slavonic Studies and East European Studies and starts a post-graduate diploma in Czech language this month. His department will be affected by cuts, despite being the only one in Scotland.
He said: “In the last few years we have been seeing large growth.
“Once these courses go, there is going to be nowhere else in Scotland to study Czech or Polish and Russian, which has always been very popular and has been taught here since the 1920s.”
Bryony Buck, 31, a post-graduate student, addressed the crowd, saying: “Over the last seven months we have shown staff, the student body and the nation that direct action works, that it is worth it.
“We have stood together, we have become family, we’ve got the rest of Glasgow involved.”
A university spokeswoman said: “We are pleased the students have decided to bring the occupation to a peaceful conclusion.
“This will allow the university to redevelop the space for academic use.
“A new social facility for post-graduate students will open in the main building in session 2011/12 and the university will continue to consult with students and their representatives on future facilities and amenities for the student body.”
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