The philosophy students want to move back to Kungshuset according to a new survey but the protests have no effect. The university has made its decision – Kungshuset is going to be a museum.
Kungshuset – the stronghold of the philosophy students – is going through major renovations. The ventilation system is obsolete and the building is not accessible for disabled people. But the building is not going to be renovated for future students – Kungshuset will instead become a museum. The decision has been debated for a long time. The student council at the Faculty of Philosophy conducted a survey where they asked the students if they wanted to stay in the building and the answer was a clear yes, the students want to stay. About three fourths of the 139 students that answered the survey wished to move back to Kungshuset after the renovation.
“It is remarkable that the university can do something like this without having staff not students on their side. It is sad,” says Henrik Hågemark, chairperson of the student council at the Faculty of Philosophy and further explains:
“The university should have asked the students from the beginning, before the decision was made.
Critique against survey questions
In last Tuesday’s Sydsvenskan critique was directed at the survey. The Students Unions for the Humanities and Theology’s (HTS) chairperson Oskar Styf considered the questions to be too tendentious and that they didn’t really show the real situation.
“Very strange. A very strange claim. The questions were neutrally asked,” says Henrik Hågemark.
But this is something Oskar Styf disagrees with.
“The students have partly not been given enough information about the moving arrangements to be able to have an adequate opinion about the situation and therefore they weren’t completely sure what the questions meant,” says Oskar Styf.
The Faculty of Humanities and Theology conducted an information campaign with meetings and flyers but that wasn’t done until after the survey was compiled.
Disagreement about students’ opinion
Due to different points of view, there is disagreement about how the students’ opinion actually look like. HTS had a meeting concerning the question last year which showed a considerably positive attitude. But now it seems to have turned. But HTS are firm – moving is the best alternative:
“We have got the impression that the opinions are split into two parts,” says Oskar Styf.
Are you not on the students’ side?
“We are on the students’ side. But we think it’s important that the building is accessible to disabled people. You have to consider all parts of the situation. Isn’t it important that a person who is bound to a wheelchair is able to get to a lecture?” Oskar Styf asks rhetorically.
But no matter if the philosophy students want to move back or not, it will not happen. After the renovation Kungahuset will become a museum. The Vice Chancellor is firm in his decision.
“There is no way we can move back,” says Lund University’s Vice Chancellor Per Eriksson.
Text: Casper Danielsson
Translationa: Mia Söllwander
