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Goldsmiths University has banned oil, gas, mining, arms and tobacco companies from its careers and recruitment activities, following an 18-month campaign by students. In a new Sustainable Careers Policy published by the university, Goldsmiths Careers and Employability states that these industries will be excluded from the university’s careers fairs and employer events and cannot advertise their vacancies to students.
The campaign against fossil fuel recruitment was spearheaded by Goldsmiths Students’ Union, who officially endorsed the campaign in April 2023, and was supported by student campaigning charity People & Planet. After calls from pro-Palestine activists that saw Goldsmiths students enter into a campus occupation for almost a month, both fossil fuel and arms industry exclusions were implemented in the policy.
This announcement makes Goldsmiths the eighth UK university to exclude fossil fuels from their careers and recruitment activities. It comes as part of the UK-wide Fossil Free Careers campaign, coordinated by People & Planet. The campaign demands university careers services adopt an Ethical Careers Policy that excludes oil, gas and mining companies from recruitment relationships, in order to “end recruitment pipelines” into extractive industries.
To date Fossil Free Careers has seen 8 universities and 18 student unions end recruitment ties with the fossil fuel industry, and has received endorsements from the National Union of Students (NUS) and the University and College Union (UCU).
The Goldsmiths announcement comes at a time where universities are under increasing pressure from students to cut their ties with harmful industries, particularly those involved in fossil fuel extraction and those manufacturing weapons used in the bombing of Gaza.
Goldsmiths is additionally under pressure from staff, who have recently been on strike against a major restructuring that could see 25% of staff made redundant and high-profile courses such as the Black British History MA axed. According to Goldsmiths UCU’s Twitter account, UCU branch members are also balloting to continue a marking and assessment boycott in protest at the restructure.
Goldsmiths 2023/2024 Campaigns and Activities and Education Officers said in a statement:
“We welcome the decision reached by Senior Management and the Careers Service to adopt a Sustainable Careers Policy. The Students’ Union agree that this is a first step in a positive direction for Goldsmiths to live up to the ideals of Social Justice that its students and staff hold dear.
However, having acknowledged the positives, we must turn to the current context that is Senior Management's decision to decimate courses such as Black British History and make 97 FTE redundancies to academic staff. These redundancies significantly undermine the shared principles of an institution that prides itself on its positive vision and dedication to social justice.
This announcement also comes alongside senior management's reluctance to engage with student campaign groups, that has escalated into open hostility towards and repression of said groups. Of particular note is Goldsmiths For Palestine's demands, as part of a wider campaign, for divestment from companies complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people as well as the ongoing illegal apartheid and settler colonialism.
If Goldsmiths SMT is truly committed to cementing its place as an ethical institution then they should meaningfully re-engage with Goldsmiths for Palestine and fully commit to divestment from the state of Israel.”
Maddie Bromfield, Senior Campaign Coordinator at People & Planet said:
“Today’s announcement at Goldsmiths is a significant step for the University in its commitment to ethics and sustainability, and is the result of sustained pressure from students across the university. It also shows what students can achieve when different groups unite to stand against the many injustices that UK universities are complicit in propping up: from climate breakdown to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
It’s clear that the tide is turning against the fossil fuel and arms industries, and that students will no longer accept some of the world’s most destructive companies being given free rein to greenwash their images on UK campuses.
We’re now asking Goldsmiths to go even further in listening to the calls of students, by committing to divest its investments from the arms and border industries. We also urge Goldsmiths to listen to its staff and reconsider the mass redundancies proposed as part of their transformation programme.”
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