News – Page 15 of 32

Students Boycott Principal’s Drinks Over “Sexist” Comments

15Feb

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

News

Students Boycott Principal’s Drinks Over “Sexist” Comments

Principal Layzell’s Annual Student Reception is facing a boycott over the comments that he made about the gender pay gap on campus, which were revealed by Orbital Magazine last month. A number of students who have been invited are boycotting the reception unless the Principal apologises for his comments. They are calling for other students who have been invited to follow them in boycotting and calling for pay equality and transparency at Royal Holloway. The drinks reception which is to be hosted on February 19 is usually attended by the Presidents’ of the clubs, societies and media outlets of the Students’ Union, as well as other students who have enriched music or residential life on campus. Despite having the seventh worst gender pay gap at professorial level in the co...

4Feb

By Maria GreenNo Comments

News

UCU Strike Action at Royal Holloway

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced that 61 universities will be taking part in 14 strike dates, beginning with a two-day walkout on 22 and 23 February. The UCU represents over 110,000 people in universities, colleges, prisons, adult education and training organisations across the UK, and is the largest staff trade union at Royal Holloway. 61 universities, including Royal Holloway, are protesting in response to proposed changes to the USS pension scheme: the largest pension scheme for higher education institutions in the UK. The 14 days of industrial action were announced on January 29. The two-day walkout on 22 and 23 February will escalate to three, four and five day strikes in the following weeks (26-28 February, 5-8 March, 12-16 March). On 23 January, the J...

27Jan

By Samantha DavisNo Comments

News

South Western Rail Criticised

South Western Rail has come under fire after allegations that it is refusing to properly staff Egham station. Although the station is frequently busy due to it being the closest rail link to Royal Holloway University and Strodes College, the ticket office has often been forced to close due to a lack of staff to operate it. This disruption caused by the lack of employees has also been exacerbated by the 24 hour strikes that have been affecting this service continually in recent months. Monday January 8, Wednesday January 10 and Friday January 12 saw the station remain unmanned due to a walkout over a long-running dispute over the role of the train guards. One local resident angered by the frequent closing of the ticked office has reported to Get Surrey that “we have enough passengers ...

Sexism Storm Surrounds Royal Holloway Principal

23Jan

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

News

Sexism Storm Surrounds Royal Holloway Principal

Royal Holloway Principal, Professor Layzell has claimed the university has a “transparent and fair pay system” despite having the seventh worst gender pay gap in the country at professorial level. Speaking at his last Staff Open Meeting in November, he claimed the problem was instead rooted in the fact there are not enough women going for promotion. In a recording of the meeting obtained by Orbital Magazine, the Principal claimed that “there are certain protected groups where there is a natural tendency to not have a go and put themselves in for promotion - sometimes that’s gender, sometimes it’s the BAME group”. The Principal is facing backlash from his “natural tendency” comments, with one member of staff in the Geography Department telling Orbital that it was “an example of ev...

Plans to build student accommodation in Egham town centre rejected by Council

3Jan

By Maria GreenNo Comments

News

Plans to build student accommodation in Egham town centre rejected by Council

Runnymede Borough Council (RBC) has refused plans to build 105 student accommodation units in Egham. The decision, made on December 6, comes after proposals made in July 2017 to demolish existing buildings and construct student units at 40 and 41 High Street. The accommodation units, which would have housed Royal Holloway students, have been a topic of controversy among Egham locals. Chris Fisher, planning co-ordinator of the Egham Residents’ Association, described the RBC’s decision as a “rare and encouraging victory”. Fisher has previously claimed that “Egham is relentlessly being turned into a further campus of Royal Holloway." The RBC stated that the proposal was refused because of its “scale and height compared to surrounding buildings”, adding that the units would “fai...

Innovative Documenting: RHUL Student Wins Film Award

22Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Innovative Documenting: RHUL Student Wins Film Award

A PHD student here at Royal Holloway has been awarded with the ‘Innovation Award’ at this year’s AHCR Research Film Awards. The winners were announced earlier this month, with Iris Zaki’s short documentary Shampoo Summit winning overall. Zaki directed, produced, wrote, edited and filmed the documentary by herself. The documentary was filmed in the Israeli city of Haifa, where Zaki is originally from. Zaki got a job in a hair salon in the city and subsequently placed a camera on the edge of a washbasin so that it would face a customer as their hair was being shampooed by Zaki. Judges said that this was an “innovative technique” to use in this type of filming. Zaki would talk to the clients about a myriad of topics, including but not limited to, Israeli history and politics, general li...

RHUL Historian Awarded Prestigious Prize

19Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

RHUL Historian Awarded Prestigious Prize

Earlier this year, Daniel Beer, British historian and History lecturer here at Royal Holloway, published his groundbreaking book The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile under the Tsars. It is an insight into Russian history and the Tsars’ role in exiling people to Siberia under brutal conditions. The book is meticulously researched and showcases the revolutionary spirit and the regime’s desire to quell it as quickly and effectively as possible. Since its release, the book was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2017, the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize 2017 and the Longman-History Today Book Prize 2017, all of which are extremely prestigious historical and literary prizes. It is an amazing achievement for Dr. Beer to have The House of the Dead chosen. On Nov 17, The House of the De...

Royal Holloway Alumna Makes The Apprentice final

17Dec

By Joanne ArcherNo Comments

News

Royal Holloway Alumna Makes The Apprentice final

Lord Alan Sugar is searching for his next business partner in the BBC’s popular reality game show, The Apprentice. The series, which spans 14 weeks, puts businesspeople through tough trials of elimination to find the candidate with the best skills and business model. The winner will secure a £250,000 investment into their business, shared with Lord Sugar as a 50% stake holder. Former Royal Holloway student, Sarah Lynn, has made it to the final round against competitor James White. Sarah Lynn studied at Royal Holloway from 1999, graduating with a degree in History and Politics in 2002. In June 2010 Lynn set up her business, Sweets in the City, which she has been working to improve over the past 7 years. The company produces “hand-picked and hand-packed” sweet b...

Residents Dissatisfied over Ashdene House

14Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Residents Dissatisfied over Ashdene House

Ashdene House on St Jude’s Road, Englefield Green is being considered as new student accommodation flats. Planning application for the building to be demolished and then rebuilt as 29 student flats was registered a few weeks ago. Many residents in Englefield Green were not pleased with these proposals. In fact, at a public consultation on Oct 4 of this year, 89 people were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding the issue. 83% of the respondents did not want Ashdene House to be turned into student flats and would prefer it to be given over to social housing schemes. People in the popular Facebook group ‘Englefield Greenies’ have commented their stark objections to this student accommodation. One person said that “the green is fast becoming a campus”. Others spoke up about the noi...

9Dec

By Shannon GrayNo Comments

News

Sign Here

Royal Holloway has recently been subject to several petitions, created by students attempting to instil the change they’d like to see at the university. In early September, student Phoebe Dormand created a petition that asked for the Health Centre on campus to be improved. She cited 8 issues that she felt warranted the petition, including but not limited to response time, lack of sympathy, being refused appointments and having only 5 doctors and 1 nurse covering over 9000 students. Comments on the petition found that there were many other issues with the Health Centre that Phoebe had not touched on as well as increasing solidarity between the students. Phoebe’s petition gained over 1500 signatures and led to the SU releasing a survey asking students to review the Health Centre in an ...