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“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them”
Usually, when writing news stories, it’s quite easy to be dispassionate. Usually, where there is some sort of disagreement, one speaks to both sides of the argument, and then writes up the article in line with The Yorker’s policy of due impartiality. Yet this was tough on a story as emotive as the University’s decision not to hold a two-minute silence.
At 11am on Friday I was sat in the library. On my way out in the morning, I had half joked to my housemates that there shouldn’t be any problems with holding the two-minute silence in there. Yet I was wrong, not only was I the only one who took any time to raise my head from my laptop or book in the library, but throughout the time I could hear library staff chatting as they put books away.
I do not blame the individuals involved for not observing the silence. People have busy lives and cannot be expected to be able to recognise on the dot when it is 11am. That is why railway stations, shopping malls and hospitals up and down the country will announce 11am to people inside the building. Indeed, having spoken to a friend at the University of Aberdeen, their library gave not only an announcement at 11am, but also advance notice at 10.30am and 10.50am.
So why should the University of York be any different? Does the University genuinely believe that it is too important to commemorate the war dead? Does it feel that the seconds it would have taken from someone from the library to announce that it is 11am would have been too much expense? Or the two-minute teaching time lost at 11am was too important to lose? This shows the classic arrogance of a University who have a nasty habit of assuming the institution is more important than the people paying £3,000 a year to attend it.
I suspect almost every student at this University has lost a family member on service. The brother of my great grandfather (who himself fought and survived the First World War) lied about his age so he could serve his country and died in the trenches of the First World War. Even today, 365 service men have died serving in Afghanistan and I am sure there are students at this University whose close relatives are posted in Helmand.
This is why it is so hard to be dispassionate about this story. These are men and women who gave up their lives so that we may enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today. The debt of gratitude we owe those people is huge. It is therefore horrific that the University should ignore the one time each year that we take to commemorate them and indeed by continuing lectures and seminars through that time they prevent others from respecting the dead.
Thankfully, November 11 next year falls on a Sunday and so the University will not be able to deprive individuals of their right to commemorate the dead. However, for the sake of future students, pressure must be put on the University to reverse their policy - and this is why I have started a petition which you can view by clicking here. We also have our role to play in supporting those who help people returning from conflict, so I urge you to consider giving to the Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes, whose work continues to change the lives of those who risk their lives for us.
Please note the views expressed in this article are those of the writer, and may not reflect the views of The Yorker.
It's a disgrace. I was the only person in a computer room on campus to be stop typing, stop reading and observe the silence.
Did you not just say that you were not prevented from marking the silence yourself? Yes, it'd be a courtesy for the Library to provide an announcement etc., but I think your statement on next year the university being unable "to deprive individuals of their right to commemorate the dead" is a bit unfair - you can commemorate the dead however you wish, if you remember to notice that it's 11.00 without the uni's assistance.
Yes, but my argument is not that I personally was prevented from partaking in the 11am silence. My argument is that those who were in lectures and seminars were prevented as they carried on through 11am.
My comments that the library should give notice was in addition to that qualm.
comment deleted by the author I completely agree. I was expecting an announcement or something, anything, on campus but people just carried on as usual. Whilst I agree that everyone has the personal choice as to whether or not to respect the two minute silence, I don't think it's much to ask considering the sacrifices that those we are remembering made.
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