Could Covid-19 change universities forever?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 15 October 2020
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Halls have been locked down. Students have asked for their money back. And among staff, there have been complaints of coercion from management and rumblings of industrial action. For universities, could a short-term crisis develop into an existential threat?
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Guests:
- Scott Galloway, professor at NYU Stern School of Business.
- An anonymous senior academic at one of the UK's top universities.
- Jo Grady, general secretary, University and College Union.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips: BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4 News.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It was a controversial decision. |
| 0:03.0 | More than a million students traveling across the country |
| 0:06.2 | and across the world to attend university in person. |
| 0:10.1 | It sort of reads like the opening scene of contagion too. |
| 0:13.2 | University Presidents will go down is the new agents of super spread |
| 0:17.6 | who have decided to prioritize their own economic well-being |
| 0:21.4 | over the health of their communities. |
| 0:24.0 | In the weeks that followed, halls have been locked down. |
| 0:28.0 | Students have been asking for their money back. |
| 0:31.0 | And among staff, there have been complaints of coercion from management and |
| 0:35.6 | rumblings of industrial action. People are really scared yeah people feel like |
| 0:40.0 | their safety and their health is completely in danger. |
| 0:43.0 | This has led to outbreaks. |
| 0:45.0 | Could the experience of universities |
| 0:47.2 | challenge the whole idea of what it means to be COVID safe, |
| 0:51.6 | not just in lecture theatres, but in offices, everyone. to be an |
| 0:55.0 | an existential theatres but in offices everywhere and for some universities could |
| 0:57.6 | this crisis be an existential threat. |
| 1:00.5 | You're listening to stories of our times from the Times and the Sunday Times. |
| 1:05.0 | I'm Manveen Rana. Today, will COVID-19 change universities forever. The government has defended its decision to allow hundreds of thousands of students in England to return to university for the new term. |
| 1:25.6 | Students across the UK have been speaking of their fears and frustrations after being forced into lockdown. |
| 1:31.6 | We've barely got any milk on bread to last us till Monday. |
... |
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