AUC student protests over fee increases enter their third week, Mohamed Abdel-Baky reports Hundreds of American University in Cairo (AUC) students blocked access to the campus for a second week in protest over a seven per cent increase in tuition fees. AUC's administration was forced to suspend all the classes until further notice after protesting students prevented anyone from entering the university. "After exhausting all alternatives with the students insisting on closing the gates, the AUC is suspending operations, including all classes, because of the danger posed by the continuing closure of the campus," said a statement issued by the university on Sunday. The University Senate issued a statement denouncing the closure of the campus. "No one has the right to claim ownership of the campus," it said. "It belongs to the entire AUC community." Students have been protesting over the seven per cent increase in tuition, due to be applied annually until 2015, for three weeks. It is the third time they have chained the main gate to the campus, preventing students and faculty staff from entering. On Thursday the university administration decided to remove the metal gates in an attempt to allow students and staff on campus but students quickly blocked the opening with their cars. Protesting students accused the administration of ignoring security risks by removing the gates. AUC Director of Media Relation Rehab Saad responded by saying that blocking the gates was itself a security risk since in emergencies people would not be able to enter or leave the campus. Student Rania Salam opposes the protests, saying that while she might agree with the demands she cannot condone the closing of the campus and cancellation of classes. "If these protests are for our sake, the Student Union organising the protest must find another way of pressing their demands without causing classes to be stopped two months ahead of final exams," she says. The Student Union has issued a statement apologising for preventing students and professors from entering the campus but insisting this is the only way to force the administration to take their demands seriously. "It is not too late to do the right thing�ê� we officially apologise if our supporters misbehaved or insulted you during the protest, we might disagree with each other on the cause of the protests but we still hope the best for our university," the union said. "The protesting students will not open the gates until the university cancels the tuition increase. They have ignored our demands for more than a year and now they are responsible for all this mess," said Kamal Mahmoud, organiser of the protests. Last week AUC suspended five students for violating the university's policy on freedom of expression. In a message to students AUC President Lisa Anderson stated that "after several intensive rounds of negotiations with representatives of the protesting students over the past several days unfortunately we have reached a standoff." She added that on Saturday the administration and students' representatives had agreed to develop new models for fee increases that will provide students with "greater clarity and predictability". "These models will be available for community discussion by 15 November. This includes modelling tuition increases that may be lower than the seven per cent that is currently in our planning parameters for the coming years," Anderson said. She also noted that more than 60 per cent of AUC students receive financial aid and that all students whose families are facing difficulties in paying tuition are encouraged to apply for financial aid. "We are committed to ensuring that no students enrolled at AUC will be unable to complete their studies for financial reasons." The seven per cent tuition increase is not the highest to be applied by AUC. In 2008, when the university moved to the New Cairo campus, fees increased by 12 per cent. In September 2011 more than 3,000 students staged a nine-day sit in on campus alongside workers and security guards to protest against both fee increases and low salaries for non-academic staff. This week also saw disputes at the German University in Cairo (GUC) over preparations for a referendum on new Student Union regulations. The clash started on Saturday when campus security prevented students from entering with transparent ballot boxes. Four students were reported to have received minor injuries in the confrontation. On Sunday more than 2,000 students challenged the university administration and participated in the referendum on regulations which GUC administrators refuse to accept since the provisions were not first discussed with university officials. GUC students have been battling for student union independence for a year. In March 2011 they succeeded in setting up the first student union of the eight-year-old university. Meanwhile, students at Al-Azhar University held a demonstration on Sunday demanding dormitory accommodation. The students are protesting against changes in the regulations governing eligibility for dorm places, which are now restricted to students who receive A and B grades in their third and fourth years. The president of the university has promised that a committee will review eligibility criteria.
