A furious student staged a protest against the University of Liverpool at her own graduation ceremony and was “cheered on” by the crowd.
Milly White graduated from the university with an incomplete set of marks after three years of interrupted learning triggered by Covid lockdowns and strikes. The 22 year-old, from Surrey, is furious that she and her peers had to pay full tuition fees, despite not setting foot on campus until second year and finishing her studies with incomplete marks due to a nationwide marking boycott.
As reported by The Mirror, Milly concealed a white cloth bearing the words 'I want a refund' inside her gown, which she revealed to thunderous applause while going up on stage at the Philharmonic Hall to collect her degree certificate. Despite supporting the lecturers' strikes, Milly believes that she still deserves financial compensation for all the lectures and seminars which had been marketed to her, but not delivered.
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After going through the university's complaints procedure but failing to get a resolution, she decided to turn to more "unconventional methods" by making a statement at her graduation ceremony. Milly said: "It was one of my proudest moments. People loved it and such a massive crowd cheered. My cohort was clapping and people were stopping me afterwards saying 'that was amazing.'"
She added: "The reaction has been really positive. I knew that most of my cohort felt the same but wouldn't outwardly do anything about it for fear of getting in trouble. I wasn't upsetting anyone, and had done everything the university wanted me to by following the complaints procedure to the letter, but hadn't got a justified outcome.
"Financially from the university I don't think it will make them pay out, but more than anything it's just a moral objection to the way they treat their students. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. Students are an easy group to ignore."
Milly was initially unsure about going through with her plan, but "solidified" her decision after hearing a speech from a faculty member. She said: "I was so nervous beforehand. When I sat down in my seat with the sign in my gown I still didn't know whether I was going to do it.
"But then the pro-vice-chancellor for my department gave a speech which was an absolute work of fiction, saying we 'got where we have with support of the university, dedication of department', and I knew that wasn't true. That moment solidified my need to do something.
"I think it's really important to know that I did do everything the university wanted me to do. Complaints wise, I followed their procedure and didn't get what I wanted, which is why I turned to slightly unconventional methods."
Although she had an incomplete set of marks, Milly had enough to be given a classification. However, she says there are people on her course who still don't have a degree.
She added: "They went to graduation with no idea what they had, what they got, and didn't even get a certificate.
"So there are people applying to grad jobs and going to employers who still don't know their grade. Those hiring might go for candidates who do know, so they're disadvantaged in that way too."
Milly went through three stages to seek compensation from her university. Firstly she tried to resolve her complaint informally by emailing her head of department, saying she was dissatisfied with the service and never went on campus.
After apparently being told to undertake some supplemental learning, she escalated to a stage one complaint, then stage two which involved speaking to the director of student experience.
She completed the complaints procedure once in relation to her second year, and then lodged another complaint about her third year. She said: "We are consumers of the university's services, and we're not treated like it. In no other sector do you have no right of appeal and no right for a refund if you pay for a service and don't get it.
"If you pay for a flight that gets cancelled you get your money back, but we haven't been offered anything. I fully support the strikes and really understand the reasons behind them, but obviously it's just the fee-paying student who's affected."
A University of Liverpool spokesman said: ”We understand that the last few years have been a difficult time for some students, with disruption and challenges caused by COVID and periods of sector-wide industrial action.
"We worked hard during the pandemic to ensure that we continued to provide a high-quality academic experience, while also prioritising the health and safety of our whole community and following UK Government guidance.
"During the recent nationwide industrial action and marking and assessment boycott we have prioritised reducing any direct impact on our students. The majority of our students graduated as planned.
"A small number of students graduated with a provisionally-classified honours degree based on the available marks. We are providing additional support to these students to help them progress to graduate jobs or further study and we expect their full marks to be available in the coming weeks."
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