The University of Salford is asking graduates, who have already had to pay increased tuition fees, to donate to a fund to help poor students get a degree – despite blowing what is believed to be in excess of £100,000 on its recently failed libel case against former lecturer Dr Gary Duke.
On it website, Salford University reveals that it is running a new Graduation Giving Campaign for the Class of 2013 for its Salford Advantage Futures Fund… "a new fund which will provide help for students to access development opportunities" (see here)
"This campaign gives final year students the chance to make a difference at Salford before they leave" it explains "...By contributing to the Graduation Giving campaign, students who are coming to the end of their time at Salford can help ensure that new students can benefit from the same opportunities as those who have gone before them.
"Each donation is more than an act of generosity" it adds "it is evidence of the pride that our students take in being a member of the University of Salford, and the shared belief that everyone should have access to the same opportunities, regardless of their circumstances."
Gary Duke, who lives in Eccles, spent three years fighting a libel case brought against him by the University of Salford, which was labelled by the judge "an abuse of the court's process" (see here) and official University estimates of the legal costs seen by the Salford Star show a total of £113,462.
Now Gary Duke has slammed the University's appeal to graduates to fund poorer students…
"In my opinion this is in remarkably bad taste in light of the likely £100,000+ cost of Vice Chancellor Hall and Deputy Vice Chancellor Graves' failed libel claim" he says "The best way to ensure 'that others should be able to benefit from an education, regardless of their circumstances...' would have been to have used the vast sums they've wasted on this failed libel claim to put ten students from underprivileged backgrounds through university for free."
Gary Duke has now officially written to David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, calling for a Public Inquiry into the spending of vast amounts of public money on what the libel judge called an action "purely for the purpose of the University's obtaining an injunction to stifle criticism of Dr Graves and Professor Hall (for that is what it is about)."
`Professor Hall' is University of Salford Vice-Chancellor Martin Hall and `Dr Graves' is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Adrian Graves…In the letter to David Willetts, Gary Dukes writes…
"Since 2009, under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Hall and Deputy Vice Chancellor Dr Graves, many hundreds of academic and non-academic positions have been lost to redundancy. The rationale for such swingeing costs was to save money, particularly in this current economic climate and the introduction of full £9000 a year tuition fees by the Vice Chancellor and Dr Graves. Yet it is clear that since the serving of the 'Letter of Claim' on March 5th 2010, Professor Hall and Dr Graves have used University funds – public money – to launch and maintain this civil action.
"I believe that given the current economic climate, the loss of hundreds of academic positions and the raising of tuition fees at Salford, that the actions and conduct of Professor Hall and Dr Graves in launching this libel claim in the name of the University of Salford using public funds, must warrant a full investigation" he adds "Any reasonable person may conclude from reading Mr Justice Eady's comments, that this is a misuse of public funds."
Meanwhile University bosses are happy to pass the graduation caps around, begging donations to help others `benefit from the same opportunities as those who have gone before them…'
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
