Students4Change is a collective of socialist students, who work actively to dismantle the corporate university, as well as the racist, imperialist, white supremacist, patriarchal and cisheteronormative systems it reflects and reproduces.

The issues that we face today,

… can be traced back to neoliberal mindset that has infested our society, perpetuated by successive right-wing governments. It has led to a situation where those of us the most vulnerable are treated with the greatest disrespect. We are of the opinion that these issues are political issues, and so require political solutions, as opposed to much of the apolitical student movement, and we do not believe in cooperating with those who have diametrically opposed interests to us.

Universities are meant to be places of learning and research but are increasingly places of profit. Tuition fees have never been higher, yet standards at our universities are falling, important services are being cut, and our teachers are being casualized. The extortionate cost of a university degree means that those students who are already financially disadvantaged are more likely to end up owing the most in student debt. The same students are also more likely to work part-time and full-time jobs during term-time and rely on food banks for their next meal.

Women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people suffer a dual oppression: On the one hand, as students who are likely to be stuck in low-wage jobs and burdened by debt and, on the other, as members of an oppressed community. Rather than supporting these students and fighting against inequality, our universities and governments are upholding the status quo. Senior management, belonging to the ruling class much like the political elite, have pushed the corporatization of our universities rather than opposing it.

Trinity College Dublin, for example, is an imperialist institution, complicit in war crimes and racist border control. The university has invested millions of euros in the war industry and collaborates with right-wing militarists like Declan Ganley, who have profited from the suffering of people overseas. As the profit motive dominates, concern for human life fades into meaninglessness.

Students4Change stands against this violence and seeks to build a grassroots liberation movement. We believe that by centering underrepresented voices and by standing in solidarity with staff in the fight against capitalist exploitation and imperialist, patriarchal and anti-LGBTQ oppression are we able to transform our institutions into a truly democratic and community-based space of learning and knowledge sharing.

We have campaigned on a wide range of issues, all of which are part of the four fights: democratize, diversify, decolonize and demarketize. For example, against rising fees, against the HEA Bill 2022 which is a government takeover of academia, for increased mental health funding and to rename the Berkeley library at Trinity, to name a few.

We have also researched extensively on a number of issues, building up an database of Freedom of Information Act requests, conducting surveys on counselling service waiting times, war investments and how student accommodation providers exploit students.

These are accessible from the top menu of this website.