At the sharp edge of a broken, marketised system, students are getting organised. On the 24th and 25th of April, almost 100 of us came together to share strategies of resistance, to imagine a university that is de-marketised, democratised and decolonised, and to start planning the fightback. The 'Transforming the University' student organising school was organised by Red Square Movement, a collective of prominent student campaigns including Pause or Pay, Liberate the University, Young Labour, Rent Strike, and NUS. The school was supported by The World Transformed.

Sessions included panels on the marketisation of universities, how we might decolonise universities and post-university political organising, and workshops focused on skills like power mapping, narratives, and organising and mobilising. Students currently in occupation dialled in from Nottingham, Sheffield Hallam, the University of Sheffield, and Manchester. Speakers included Gargi Bhattacharyya, UCU General Secretary Jo Grady, NUS President Larissa Kennedy, student organiser and co-founder of The People's Podcast Taj Ali, UCU President Vicky Blake, organiser at the Free Black University Tasha Mutch-Vidal, Abolitionist Futures organiser Hajera Begum, and Tony Boardman from the UC Santa Cruz strike.

Attendees said that "it was super empowering to meet so many likeminded activists", that the school was "so, so organised, great leaders, clear agenda, well run, very motivational". The group are planning for an event in the summer to better coordinate and advance the student movement.

Anyone wanting to find out more can get in touch by email: transformtheuniversity<at>gmail.com