“We are reusing the tools put in place during confinement to repress the student movement, it is really indecent.
“Emma and Joséphine, 25 and 22, did not take off after learning, this Tuesday morning, the administrative closure of the University of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, located in Saint-Denis, and the changeover to distance learning.
This decision was taken "for security reasons", says the university laconically, which did not respond to our requests.
[#INFORMATION]
For security reasons, the Saint-Denis campus will be inaccessible today, Tuesday April 19, all day.
We will keep you informed of the evolution of the situation.
https://t.co/49hj2mOjNQ
– Paris 8 University (@UnivParis8) April 19, 2022
Emma and Joséphine are part of the "P8 mobilizes" collective, created after the first round of the presidential election which saw Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen qualify for the second.
"We want to act," say the two students.
In 2002, millions took to the streets against the far right.
This year, there is nobody, it is sluggish.
We are afraid, we need to open spaces for discussion.
»
A general assembly was to be held at the university at noon on Tuesday, but the closure of the campus "caught the movement by surprise".
"That the presidency closes the university when students plan to meet to discuss, it's a scandal, it's an incredible level of administrative repression", launches a young man.
"We weren't calling for a blockage at all, just to debate", assure Emma and Joséphine.
The collective "P8 is mobilizing" maintains the call for an Interfacs general meeting this Wednesday, at 10 am.
"In the impossibility of being able to ensure the functioning of the campus"
The closure of Paris 8 follows that decided last Friday in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), again in anticipation of an assembly, and the occupation of Paris-I and Sciences-po Paris last week.
“We see that the government is really afraid that it will break out among the youth,” observes Irène, 20, member of the Raised Fist.
This anti-capitalist and revolutionary student collective is also struggling to improve the fate reserved for students from Ukraine, threatened with expulsion, who are seeking to enroll in Paris 8. They are around 200, according to the young woman, and a decision has been taken. to "make the two mobilizations converge".
A meeting on the subject must be held this Wednesday, at the end of the day, with the presidency of the university.
This Wednesday, the university announced that the campus would remain closed all week.
“Given the strong tensions in the Ile-de-France educational establishments, in recent days, we have been unable to ensure the operation of the campus as well as the safety of people and property, explains the university.
After an exchange (…) with the council of the components on the smooth running of courses and exams in the days to come, we have decided to keep the Saint-Denis campus inaccessible until the end of the week”.