Student Strike Shuts Campus

As the sun rose over campus on Tuesday morning, dozens of students were already hard at work assembling a “blocus,” or blockade, using dumpsters, metal gates and wooden pallets embellished with various signage at the school gates. Organized by the campus student union and an open-access general assembly Monday, the blockade drew students across language tracks, nationalities and grades to band together, blocking campus access in alliance with national strikes on pension reform. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has continued his plans to raise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, despite months of strikes and widespread public opposition, especially from labor unions. The campus protest was also motivated by struggles with the Sciences Po administration — including absent teachers for established classes, registration and scheduling issues, and the lack of English-speaking staff, not to mention the controversial seven and a half percent tuition increase for the 2023-2024 academic year. 

Shortly after the blockade began on Tuesday morning, campus director Yasmina Touaibia informed students that the campus was closing due to the demonstration. All classes were moved to a Zoom format or rescheduled. Touaibia’s announcement came before many students had even learned of the demonstration. 

That night, another general assembly was organized to decide whether to organize a blockade the following day. In a private and narrow vote, Sciences Pistes determined that another filtered blockade — where essential workers could pass through — would occur. Yet, when students attempted to blockade the campus on Wednesday morning, they faced private security hired by Sciences Po Paris to guard the entrance. Municipal police also quickly arrived to remove the publicly-owned dumpsters and railings used by students. Students then formed a human barrier and continued to display various signs and posters advocating for their causes. 

In a general assembly attended by over 130 students that afternoon, Camille Lebègue, Elisa Finocchiaro and Lucie Charbonneau were elected as representatives to communicate with the administration, other student unions, police, media and other organizations that may arise.

Following the blockades at the Menton, Nancy and Paris campuses, the Sciences Po Paris administration sent an email to students on all campuses announcing the closure of the Paris campus on March 8 and condemning the blockades. 

“The right to participate in public demonstrations is a matter of individual freedom. It is regrettable, however, that certain students have chosen as an alternative means of expression to block access to our university, which should remain a place of teaching, debate and discussion, fundamental to the democratic process,” read the official administrative statement. 

On Wednesday, the administration continued their efforts to denounce and delegitimize student action, singling out the Menton campus for continuing the blockade, which, according to administrators, was aimed at “preventing access to the campus, thus denying other students access to on-campus teaching and resources” in light of the approaching exams. They also asserted that the Menton student organizers were claiming to represent the entire campus with their actions — an allegation the student union strongly contested. This statement further demonstrated the administration’s failure to comprehend the actual situation on campus: that Wednesday, those wishing to enter the campus could do so freely, as a peaceful student sit-out replaced the blockade.

Nevertheless, this statement echoed some of the points brought by the students opposing the blockade.

The movement became more widely recognized throughout the blockades and spread discussion within the student body and beyond at other campuses. Not all students favored the blockades — some opposed the idea of a protest entirely.

In contrast, others advocated a filtered blockade or sit-ins. The student union stated that the intention had always been a filtered blockade, but Touaibia’s closure of campus on Tuesday prevented the plan.  

Beyond differences in opinions on the pension reform, a key point of opposition to the blockades was that they obstructed access to campus resources, including the internet and study spaces.

Furthermore, they prevent employees from being able to work — such as library workers and custodial staff whose salaries depend on their physical presence. To address this, the student union committed to compensating for any wages lost due to the protest through a collective fund. 

Notably, the movement has been primarily dominated by French track 1As. Some English track 1As argued that it felt like the French track’s fight and that they were not informed of the initial blockades. However, there were confirmed texts in the English track group chat that informed students of the actions taking place throughout the week. While the first two general assemblies were conducted primarily in French, the third assembly had a dedicated translator, and all participants were encouraged to speak in English. 

Other students also decided to join the protests happening in Nice throughout the week instead of coming to the campus or participating in the blockade. 

At the time of writing, there is no public plan to blockade again, but there is an uptick in security on campus with increased bag searches and ID checks.