The Clare College Rent Strike Campaign has announced today (18/06) that they have ceased their strike action after 40 days of campaigning. This comes after the Campaign celebrated a month of withheld rent by staging a protest outside Clare College.

The announcement added that students who withheld rent will not face additional fees nor be barred from College accommodation next academic year, as the College had previously threatened.

The decision was taken after a meeting among the campaign earlier this week, at which it was decided that “it would not be feasible to continue the strike over the summer.”

In a press release, the Campaign stated that they are “immensely proud” of their actions over the course of the academic year, having “buil[t] up a strong network of angry students and workers across the college and has laid the foundations for radical future action,” adding that these “achievements” are “just the start.”

The Campaign will continue its action next academic year, and will continue to work on issues that they have prioritised, including rent for disabled students and treatment of non-academic staff.

A previous open letter by the Campaign called on the College to commit to charging disabled students no more rent than the cost of a “standard” room if they require a more expensive room for disability-related reasons. Currently, many disabled second and third year students are housed in Castle End, which is among the most expensive of the non-fresher accommodation options.

Clare’s branch of the University-wide Rent Strike Campaign is the last of the College branches to call off strike action this term, with several Colleges ceasing campaigning after Clare rent strikers were threatened with having their accommodation revoked by the College’s Bursar earlier this term.

The Clare Campaign prides itself on having continued to withhold rent throughout Easter term despite these threats: “Senior management’s draconian disciplinary threats and complete refusal to seriously engage with our demands are a symptom of the dismal relationship that Clare College currently has with its tenants and employees.

“We hope that the fact that our strike has managed to completely avoid all disciplinary action in spite of this will encourage students, whether at Clare or elsewhere, to continue to take action against the financial priorities of the Collegiate university. We’ve set a precedent for the power of collective action, and this is only the beginning.”