As the mist rolled in over Canterbury this morning, Jules Stephenson started to think about getting up. Around 9.30am, he crawled out of his sleeping bag, eased up off his lilo and turned his mind towards breakfast.
Looking around the messy committee room he currently calls home, he spotted two ageing mince pies, which he knew the vegans wouldn't touch. As his suet-shunning comrades emerged from duvets underneath the conference table, he gobbled up the pies and washed them down with limescaley coffee brewed with an ancient kettle. Just another day occupying the University of Kent in Canterbury.
For more than three weeks, the 22-year-old postgraduate researcher has been living in the university's Senate building, alongside a loose collective of 50 other students who are protesting against the education cuts planned by the coalition.
While other sit-ins have petered out as universities closed for the festive break, a core of Kent students have stayed put. Today marked their 22nd day of occupation. Desperate to get them out, the university has decided to treat them like squatters and has hired solicitors to begin eviction proceedings. A summons was served just before Christmas, compelling the group to attend court on 7 January.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/dec/30/kent-university-tuition-fees-protest