The Blocage in Picture

Slept through Thursday and missed the whole thing? Luckily, The Sundial Press was on the case with our elite task force poised at the ready. Enjoy our fantastic photography skills with this timeline of Reims’ first-ever Christmas-themed blocus!

5 am – 6:30 am:

After four petitions, many demonstrations, and far more meetings with the administration than the Sundial could cover, the blocage was on! From around 5 am to 6 am a group of shivering Sciences Po students gathered to set up the blocage agreed in the General Assembly the day before. Students brought bins, fences and inexplicably a Christmas tree to pile in front of the campus doors. More importantly, an adorable cat named Nemo showed up, becoming the blocus’ cutest demonstrator.

6:30 am – 8 am

With the blocage in full swing, Christmas spirit was flowing in Place Museux. Though tragically there was no mulled wine to be found (to the great disappointment of this reporter), the spirits of Christmas past, present and future could be seen in “Vicher-Out”, “VicheRAT,” and crowd favourite “Mathi-ASS.” With the Communist Manifesto mounted above the Christmas tree, wheatpasting on the walls, and banners listing demands on the fences, it really was a Sciences Po Christmas to remember.

8 am – 11 am

At 8 am, the tired students of Sciences Po dragged themselves to their much hated morning classes, only to find they didn’t need t

o have gotten out of bed after all. With the blocage in full swing, up to 70 students blocked the entrance to Sciences Po, giving out fliers to confused onlookers. Local celebrity and Director of the Reims Campus, CCP herself, came down to the blocage and promised further meetings with students to discuss their aims. As the day went on, most classes were moved to Zoom, but one creative seminar leader decided to take advantage of Reims’ most famous landmark as a free meeting space. Food was distributed freely to the demonstrators, but at this stage, cold and fatigue seemed to be the largest challenge for those staying on.

11 am – 1 pm

At 12 pm a general assembly was called by the demonstrators regarding the continuation of the blocus. Throughout the blocus, but particularly in this general assembly, the spectre of potential clashes with the far-right loomed large. This was heightened by the fact that a far-right demonstration was planned later that day and because of the events of the blocus the year before, after which a student was sent to the hospital. With the number of demonstrators likely to dwindle throughout the day, some wanted to end the blocage while the numbers were high, rather than risk an attack later on.

During the general assembly, points were raised on the far-right demonstration, the difficulties of continuing the blocage, other tactics to be pursued by demonstrators, and the idea that the point had already been made to the administration. In the end both the demonstrators and people online voted for the end of the blocage. By 1 pm everything was packed up and the bins were returned to their original locations with only the banner reading “Vicherat Suspension” remaining.

Blocages against Vicherat have now happened across campuses in Reims, Poitiers, Menton, and Paris. In Paris alone, there have been two blocages and an occupation so far this year. All of this comes in the context of a series of grievances against Vicherat and the administration with their policies on VSS, censorship of students in Menton, and planned fee increases coming under intense scrutiny. Whether this wave of student activism will be successful is still to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the pressure on Vicherat to resign didn’t leave with the dustbins.

Sources:

Almost all photos were taken by Sundial reporters on the scene with faces blurred for the anonymity of demonstrators. The photo of the class in the cathedral was sourced by a member of the seminar. The photos of the fascist sticker is from a demonstrator and confirmed through geo-location to be taken in Reims. The photos of the attack on last year’s blocage were sent by a different demonstrator.