Dr Ronald Hartz
@ronald_hartz
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organizations, power, discourse, critique, alternatives, higher education. Views my own.
Dresden, Germany
Joined June 2015
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‘Is it inevitable that the university will be reduced to the function of providing, with increasingly authoritarian efficiency, pre-packed intellectual commodities which meet the requirements of management?' (Warwick University Ltd., 1970)
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My colleagues and I are overwhelmed by the solidarity we've received today. Apologies for not directly responding to all of your words of support, but these words do make a huge difference and help us to keep on with the good fight.
#ULSB16
#BoycottLeicester
#AcademicFreedom
6
32
249
I've studied the communication of VCs for about a year. I couldn't write a paper about it because of the boringness of the results. In sum, VCs are either 'delighted' (e.g. when they can open a new building) or 'disappointed' (e.g. about no-confidence votes or strike actions).
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After several declarations that UK HE is leading the world in research and after VCs praised the hard work and dedication of their staff, I'm looking forward to their proposals for world-leading working conditions for the people they admire so much.
1
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228
'Universities adopt the language of wellness, but defined by hyperproductivity and achievement [...]. This is a wellness that is compulsory, that puts pressure on you to pretend you are OK and frames not being OK as some kind of personal failure.'
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Wie vieler Neuinfektionen bedarf es, damit die Pandemie wieder ernst genommen wird? Vielleicht traut sich auch niemand, den Menschen zu sagen, dass der Kapitalismus sein Versprechen auf Flucht aus der Erschöpfung – zum Strand, zur Party, in den Konsum – nicht mehr einhalten kann.
3
55
218
Well, I've just received redundancy notice from
@uniofleicester
. Thank you
@NCanagarajah
and the senior management team, Prof O'Connor, Head of
@LeicesterCSSAH
, Prof Devlin and Prof Ladley, Dean and Deputy Dean at
@UniLeicBusiness
.
#NoOneIsRedundant
#BoycottLeicester
#ULSB16
31
44
200
My goodness, this can't be true. HR
@uniofleicester
is sending an Exit Survey to people who get sacked tomorrow: "The University values its staff and wishes to establish the reasons why staff leave the organisation and understand their experience when working here."
16
50
186
Colleagues in Germany: Please pay attention & show solidarity to our striking colleagues at universities in the UK. Members of
@ucu
fight against massive pension cuts & for decent pay and working conditions. They are at breaking point - please show your support!
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
1
55
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My thoughts are with the good people at
@GoldsmithsUoL
who receive their redundancy letter today. For me, one of the vicious things is the calculated 'bleeding' of an institution. People leave, resign and cannot work any longer under such toxic leadership. Peak damagement.
3
47
144
One year ago, the management of
@uniofleicester
finalized the purge of Critical Management Studies and Political Economy at
@UniLeicBusiness
. A new website documents this attack on critical thinking and academic freedom.
#ULSB16
#BoycottLeicester
4
66
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University managers who inspire 😉:
'And, lastly, we owe sincere thanks to the managers, without whose opaque and hyperbolic discourse in strategy documents, policies, training courses and all-school messages, this book could not have been written. You have been an inspiration.'
3
31
144
My individual consultation at
@UniLeicBusiness
about my redundancy was canceled 13 minutes before it should begin. Someone from the other side of the table felt 'unwell'. Can they imagine how I felt the last three weeks?
#ulsb16
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I admire vice-chancellors. They feel honoured, privileged, grateful and inspired all day long. Most university staff I know are exhausted, angry, frustrated or disillusioned. Hard to believe that they even belong to the same institution.
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The number of external examiner resignations is quite impressive, but it's so important that no one steps in. We had several resignations at Leicester and I wrote a very kind email explaining the situation to a supposedly 'critical' scholar who stepped in. I never got a response.
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31
138
So I am now back to work in Germany, joining Karlshochschule International University as a Professor in Critical Management Studies. So let's not forget to
#BoycottLeicester
and the words of Stuart Hall: "A university is a critical institution or it is nothing."
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12
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“UOL lecturer Ronald Hartz (669 followers) has been active this morning”, “continues to negatively engage on Twitter”, “was active on Friday”, “Tweeted this morning thanking
@GenderWorkOrg
for their support” (3 likes), “notes he is being monitored”
I will stop here.
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13
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Massive thanks to all people who followed the awful events at
@uniofleicester
, who supported us and showed solidarity during such a difficult time. The consultation period is over, but our good fight is not. Change is still to come and another university is possible.
#ULSB16
5
12
125
View from the office at the University of Duisburg-Essen, where I started a new position as Interim Professor of Work, Human Resource Management and Organization this week. I am glad that I can continue my (renewed) journey through HE in Germany.
12
3
127
Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of the end of Critical Management Studies at
@uniofleicester
. We were told that the “questioning of mainstream management thinking” doesn't 'align' with the new strategy. A🧵with quotes from letters to the VC and other senior managers: 1/n
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'The institution no longer welcomes the kind of intellectual who is 'embarrassing, contrary, even unpleasant', preferring instead the individual who will subsume ... thinking to the demands of monetization. We have entered a new state in the betrayal of the intellectuals.'
6
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Leicester, Liverpool & Sheffield today. I can only repeat what was already said. Something is deeply rotten in UK HE. How can a small bunch of people who hate academia destroy the work of decades on a whim? This must be a final wake up call for everyone in HE, affected or not.
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Resistance in academia these days: reading a book in your office.
7
19
109
Instead of wellbeing programs and mindfulness seminars we should talk about workplace democracy, workload, job security and holding management to account. At universities and elsewhere.
2
27
111
So we are gone, but my thoughts are with those who supported us and who have to remain at the toxic workplace called
@UniLeicBusiness
. Please DM me if you need help or just want to chat. And let us not forget to
#BoycottLeicester
.
0
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97
Well, that was quick. Teaching fellow at
@UniLeicBusiness
, grade 6, fixed term contract for five months.
Teaching Fellow at University of Leicester
26
13
96
3rd lesson to learn from the disaster at
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
: Don’t let yourself lull by the cheap leadership talk about equality, diversity, inclusion and 'citizens'. Ask instead questions about power, accountability, governance, transparency and participation.
1
27
98
Time for a Twitter break. Not because I think it's time to let senior management
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
and their minions off the hook. But it is high time for a leave. Thank you for sharing, commenting, supporting, care and solidarity! I'll be back in September.
#ULSB16
5
3
95
‘It’s not unusual in mainland Europe for lecturers to vote for their heads of departments [...]. [H]ow about introducing such measures to our institution?’ ‘Thank you, I appreciate your question,’ says the VC with a pained expression that implies the complete opposite.'
5
20
94
Dear senior managers
@uniofleicester
,
@LeicesterCSSAH
@UniLeicBusiness
, dear Professors O'Connor, Devlin and Ladley. You know Prof Gibson Burrell? Ah yes, you sacked him three weeks ago. For what? Oh, he was "questioning mainstream management theory and practice". How dare he!
Our most prestigious award, the Richard Whipp Lifetime Achievement Award, is presented to Professor Gibson Burrell of
@OfficialUoM
. Congratulations!
#BAM2021
1
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1
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@PeterAr18228396
@uniofleicester
Solidarity, Peter. Another sad day for a once great institution & a decision that demonstrates the unwillingness & inability of its 'leaders'
@NCanagarajah
,
@hso1
and Gary Dixon (to name a few) to learn from the disaster & the damage they are responsible for. University, failed.
1
17
89
Scholars in Germany: Our colleagues in UK HE are under attack by university managers who lost every measure. Mass redundancies, lockouts, dismantling of arts, humanities & critical thinking. They need our international solidarity. Spread the word and
#StopManagerialVandalism
.
1
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We have asked them several times, but we had to learn that the Dean and Deputy Dean
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
had absolutely no idea who should cover our modules, supervise dissertations or do the marking once we are gone. Care for students, not.
#ULSB16
#BoycottLeicester
4
33
82
Today marks the anniversary of one of the most disgraceful redundancy processes & management debacles in the recent history of UK HE, a dismal tale of authoritarian management and contempt for academic values and exhausted staff in a pandemic. You deserve better,
@uniofleicester
.
1
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I'll retweet this once a year or until things start to change.
Resistance in academia these days: reading a book in your office.
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5
17
82
A boycott of
@uniofleicester
is huge. But when I think about the awful treatment of so many ‘affected’ and ‘non-affected’ colleagues by senior management I know this is the right thing to do right now. My colleagues deserve better. We, the university deserve better.
#ULSB16
0
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82
I’m pleased and somehow relieved to see this published and I’d like to thank those who were supportive along the way. I hope that this case study will be instructive for scholars and everyone else engaged in similar struggles. BTW, it's open access too.
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82
Do you remember the bookstore on campus? Its closure was a small but necessary step towards a world-changing university.
6
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82
My colleague Gibson Burrell received his notice of redundancy yesterday. On Monday he was asked to confirm the minutes of his last individual consultation until Friday. Well, they couldn't wait.
#ULSB16
#BoycottLeicester
6
17
77
Senior leadership at
@UniLeicBusiness
send me and my colleagues review letters about our redundancy cases. The contemptuous tone of them is difficult to endure and demonstrates the alliance of power and ill-concealed anti-intellectualism. Anyone in the sector should be alarmed.
5
25
77
Here is a compilation of the 20 lessons from the managerial disaster at
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
, published separately on Twitter a few weeks ago. More lessons to come, I suppose.
#ULSB16
#BoycottLeicester
#WeAreTheUniversity
#NoOneIsRedundant
#AcademicFreedom
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Another extraordinary defeat for the management of
@uniofleicester
. Those who were responsible for this act of academic vandalism should hang their heads in shame.
Well done, Simon Lilley, David Harvie, and Geoff Lightfoot!
What’s that mate? ‘The claimants were
unfairly dismissed’ by
@UniLeicBusiness
@LeicesterCSSAH
@uniofleicester
? Yes mate, yes. It is a dish best served cold.
@hso1
&
@NCanagarajah
are certainly shaping something. Excellence it is not.
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"The University of Zurich has decided to withdraw from the Times Higher Education World University Ranking. The ranking is not able to reflect the wide range of activities in teaching and research undertaken by universities."
Die Universität Zürich hat beschlossen, aus dem Times Higher Education World University Ranking auszusteigen. Das Ranking kann die vielfältigen universitären Leistungen in Forschung und Lehre nicht umfassend abbilden.
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151
2
23
76
Gibson Burrell says goodbye to
@UniLeicBusiness
: "We are disgusted too by the recent incumbents of the office of Dean who wear anti-intellectualism like a badge of honour & appear to seek nothing more from the School than the training of impressionable wage slaves by wage slaves"
2
20
70
So thankful for all the stunning & furious comments about the shameful redundancies at
@uniofleicester
and the care about the university as a space for curiosity & critical thinking today. For sure,
@NCanagarajah
and his minions are on the wrong side of history.
#BoycottLeicester
0
13
74
So much noise about 26 compulsory redundancies at
@uniofleicester
? Well, there is not enough noise about 115 people leaving since January, bypassing academic freedom, silencing staff and students, circumventing marking, lack of accountability, authoritarian management. What else?
2
18
72
1/ Three years ago, I’ve joined the University of Leicester School of Business because of its critical and progressive approach to research and teaching about management and organisation. Since then, I’ve not only had to pleasure to work together with brilliant colleagues but
2
15
74
John Stuart Mill, 1867:
"At least there is tolerably general agreement about what a University is not. It is not a place of professional education. [...] Their object is not to make skilful lawyers, or physicians or engineers, but capable and cultivated human beings."
1
18
69
Thinking about
#ULSB16
& the brilliant and lovely colleagues at
@UniLeicBusiness
I had the pleasure to work with, I have to say that I am leaving UK academia with a heavy heart. But the brutal attacks by senior management on critical thinking & academic freedom are unforgivable.
1
6
72
The same person who wants to sack me at
@UniLeicBusiness
right now was also introduced to me as my mentor for my promotion back in November 2020.
#ULSB16
5
14
70
Dear senior leaders at
@uniofleicester
, instead of monitoring our social media activities and intimidating people, get into dialogue with us. However, before we can start such a dialogue, you have to apologize for what you have done. This is the least we expect from you.
2
11
70
Have you ever heard of or met a VC or senior university manager who admitted that they have made a mistake or a wrong decision?
11
13
71
How to declare the end of academic freedom? Here is the subtle way of
@UniLeicBusiness
: "As would always be the case, over time it is hoped that all staff will reflect on their personal research agenda and how they might best contribute to the strategic priorities of the school."
6
26
72
Dear
@NCanagarajah
, can you explain why you define "social justice" as one of the five areas of research strength at
@uniofleicester
and make my colleagues at
@UniLeicBusiness
redundant because they demonstrate a "commitment to social justice"? I didn't get it.
#BoycottLeicester
1
22
71
I am in Leicester for the last time, saying goodbye to the city. Visited the library today to return "Frameworks of Power" by Stewart Clegg. Not sure that future students at
@UniLeicBusiness
will ever come across the works of Clegg and of many other critical thinkers.
3
6
68
‘There is a paradox ... in academia – in institutions which teach about democracy, so little of it is practised within their own walls. [Democracy] is seen as an unaffordable luxury, kept at bay by the imagined state of constant crisis and financial exigency.’ (Morrish/Sauntson)
0
33
70
@PeterAr18228396
In addition: "In battles with the faculty, administrators sometimes win because they are clever. More often they win because there are so many of them and, having little to do, they are free to focus on bureaucratic struggle" (Ginsburg: The Fall of the Faculty)
3
8
70
I have learned that the majority of my publications don't count as research output, because they are written in my mother language and my bosses cannot read them. I am still shocked and horrified. What else can I say?
#ULSB16
7
10
64
Tomorrow is our last day at
@UniLeicBusiness
. I salute and thank those friends & colleagues for their support throughout the last months. What a lesson about solidarity, care and it's fragility in an organization governed by incompetence, threats and lies.
4
17
68
Top 5 values of universities in the UK (own calculation, based on official websites and documents):
1. Inclusivity
2. Respect
3. Integrity
4. Excellence
5. Collaboration
16
10
69
I am still struggling to accept that a university can claim that “we teach you to challenge everything” while sacking scholars for their questioning of the mainstream of their field.
#BoycottLeicester
2
11
67
"Today I wouldn't get an academic job. It's as simple as that. I don't think I would be regarded as productive enough."
2
27
63
Are you looking for a job where you can ignore no-confidence votes? Have you ever thought about a career in higher education?
2
11
67
I've managed to submit a short paper for the
@egosnet
conference this year. I feel somehow relieved and like to see this as a sign of recovery after a hellish year, caused by those in power at my former university. No cheers to them.
5
1
68
‘Never ‘appoint’ a VC or President. Begin the process of the democratization of intellectual work by having leaders of institutions elected from within their own ranks. [...] [E]lection should be for a limited period, with a maximum of five years.' (Thomas Docherty)
4
13
66
And no, compulsory redundancies are not normal. Intimidating and disciplining staff is not normal. Not listening to the academic community is not normal. Ignoring no-confidence votes is not normal. Silence is not normal. And no, the people who speak up are not the problem.
#ULSB16
0
12
61
I don't know about you, but I believe that some university leaders have an unwise obsession with new buildings.
8
3
66
From the VC and ExB Q&A. There are these moments when words fail you when it comes to
@uniofleicester
, but then you know that Dante is on your side - Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.
#ULSB16
#BoycottLeicester
4
24
64
Since January 2021, the number of people who resigned and are voluntarily leaving
@UniLeicBusiness
is higher than the number of people who received a redundancy notice. The Dean calls this a "strategy", a more objective observer might call this a disaster.
#BoycottLeicester
2
20
63
Do you think the neologism 'Leicesterisation' of HE makes sense, which means a new combination of authoritarian leadership, union victimising, financial pressure, the purge of critical thinking plus all garnished with the praise of diversity? Or do we have other words in place?
9
11
64
To justify our redundancy the Dean of
@UniLeicBusiness
claims that "subjects such as strategy, international business and the business environment ... are not covered from a critical perspective in most if not all other business schools." I have no words. So, what do you think?
20
10
61
"Academia is a system that desperately clings onto preserving the power and privilege of a happy few."
How sacked whistle-blower Susanne Täuber’s career fared after she spoke out
1
21
65
What's new on the
#ULSB16
website? Cards about the nine scholars who just received their notice of redundancy from
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
yesterday? Here you can see the one for our colleague Prof Gibson Burrell. Massive thanks to
@gore_oz
!
3
31
63
„The ‘glue’ that holds this perverse and quite ridiculous idea of the supremacy of the market together in universities, and allows it proceed uninterrupted in doing its deforming and disfiguring work ... is the notion of fear.“ (Smyth, 2017, p. 14)
4
26
62
6th lesson to learn from the disaster at
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
: No one is safe - when universities turn into authoritarian organizations, senior management is free to fabricate any possible justification to sack you – a 'review', 'metrics', 'market demands' etc. pp.
2
17
59
Wow, 16 vacant positions at
@UniLeicBusiness
, incl. a Prof. in Management, Prof in Work & Employment, Prof. & Assoc. Prof. in Responsible Business. How could this happen, who is responsible for it & what happens when you apply with a track record in CMS or Political Economy?
Gosh I know some people who should be perfect for these positions
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
. They probably wouldn't be interested, though. 🙄
3
1
18
1
23
58
I heard that the VC's close ranks. I always thought they told us that the universities they 'lead' are in 'fierce competition' with each other.
5
5
58
I am no longer working in the UK, but I am still in the
@ucu
and my solidarity goes to my academic friends striking in the UK from tomorrow onwards. VC's need to wake up - this is not a "listening exercise".
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
0
11
56
Leicester, Sheffield, Goldsmiths - I have the impression that "strategic" decisions at several universities are a copy of a copy of a copy.
10
12
56
@ucu
@DrJoGrady
VCs and senior managers are destroying scholarly communities and academic freedom across the UK, celebrating authoritarian leadership and anti-intellectualism and creating a culture of fear and silence. But hey, let's accuse staff of not "pulling together".
1
6
58
'Loyalty has become the unspoken condition of managerial favour and professional success. [...] Academics perceived to be disloyal are ignored, sidelined and eventually encouraged to leave or forced out altogether.' (David West, 2016)
2
25
55
May I ask you again to change this
@UniLeicBusiness
? You cannot make staff redundant because they are "questioning the authority of mainstream management thinking" and claim that you "are driven by a commitment to ask challenging questions".
#BoycottLeicester
#ULSB16
4
21
54
I am really lost for words. First they sack you and then they profit from the hard work of so many brilliant colleagues who were made 'redundant' or who resigned in disgust. And on top of it they announce new posts? Shameful, really shameful.
ULSB is delighted to announce that the School's research quality in Business and Management is now ranked 35th in the UK, having leaped 19 places based on GPA. The School has contributed strongly to
@uniofleicester
's over-all top 30 ranking in the UK. 1/2
1
7
21
2
15
55
from 2014:
'HE bosses should be in post for a maximum number of years – before returning to academic work. That way, you might get people in charge who actually care about their staff, students and institutions – rather than lining their own pockets.'
2
21
54
‘In the cult of managerialism, one is only ever as good as one’s last class, one’s last article and one’s last hours work: constant surveillance ... isolates their every living moment, depriving them of their professional duties, ... and even of their professional history.’
0
19
56
On this day in 2021, the senior leadership at
@uniofleicester
informed 145 staff members that they are at risk of redundancy. By August 2021 more than 150 staff had left the university. The name of the change programme was Shaping for Excellence.
1
16
54
It's worth to reiterate that it is university managers who damage the reputation of their institutions and not the people who speak out about their behaviour and who try to hold them to account. Don't mistake cause for effect.
#BoycottLeicester
1
12
52
Third email from HR and
@UniLeicBusiness
that I must clear my office and return my ID card until August 11. Third time they are reading my out of office reply saying that I am required to take leave until the 11th. And third time HR ignores my ongoing appeal against redundancy.
4
11
52
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 In a strategic U-turn, the
@uniofleicester
@UniLeicBusiness
announced a new centre for Critical Management Studies and Political Economy. The VC said he is delighted about this move to diversify the thinking about management, organization and society at the School.
2
6
50
Advice for students across UK HE: When managers reassure you that all the marking will be done despite the MAB, you should ask them who is doing the marking, what qualifies this person (or company) to grade your work and why they break their promise of a world-class education.
1
35
52
👉‘Remove competitions and ‘award ceremonies’ relating to academic staff. Encourage students to find other ways of showing appreciation for their teaching staff which do not invoke ostensive competition and evaluation.’ (Morrish and Sauntson: Academic Irregularities, p. 229)
3
12
49
"Anxiety ... can be conceptualised as a kind of “tactic” of governance: fuelling hard work, a striving for so-called “excellence”, and the creation of obedient academic subjects." (Vik Loveday, 2018)
1
16
48
A colleague who resigned and will leave
@UniLeicBusiness
in July came to learn that his name has been removed from his office. Dignity and respect at
@uniofleicester
.
#ulsb16
4
10
51
"If tomorrow’s university starts to look like a call centre, this should be taken as a visual index of the extent of the current assault on professionalism." (Baldry and Barnes, 2012: The open-plan academy)
2
19
55
'Both students and staff have justified grievances. [...] Meanwhile the pay of vice-chancellors ballooned as universities reconfigured themselves as businesses with interests in property development as well as education.'
1
39
47
‘instead of ‘efficiency’, the managers drive headlong towards confrontation after confrontation. Because neither efficiency nor productivity were ever, in the long run, achieved by the manipulation of people, by limiting their rights, by defrauding them of their own initiatives'
2
21
50
General advice to all those good people at risk of redundancy at universities right now:
The HR department is not your friend.
#BoycottLeicester
#WeAreTheUniversity
#ULSB16
2
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