UniLeaks, which takes inspiration from the infamous Wikileaks, has expanded its reach to the UK and published an open letter to Vice-Chancellors of British universities.
The news organisation, which collates and publishes information on the political, ethical and diplomatic business of university administrations, claims on its website to “expose matters of public interest from the global higher education sector.”
UniLeaks originated in Australia, and has published stories including the theft by an Adelaide Flinders University cashier of more than $27 million from the institution. It moved to the UK after being “inspired in large part by…the actions [UK] students have undertaken in response to the government’s austerity measures.” Demonstrations in opposition to fee rises have taken place, UniLeaks says, “against a background of general demoralisation within the higher education sector,” and it goes on to add that there has been an “absence of any real or effective opposition” from students’ unions.
Since its expansion to the UK, it has only published documents from two British universities. These documents are published in institution-specific forums on unileaks.org. At the time of going to press, there was no University of York forum, although there was one for Hull York Medical School (HYMS). UniLeaks told Vision that they were working to have every British institution included on their website, and would be creating a University of York page in the immediate future.
In February, UniLeaks published an open letter to British Vice-Chancellors, warning them that “we are already in contact with individuals from the institutions over which you preside.” The letter ominously concludes that, “what cannot be published in the corporate or state media will be published elsewhere, just as anger and resentment at social injustice can only be bottled up for so long before it explodes…”
The University’s Vice-Chancellor’s office was unavailable for comment, however University Press Officer, David Garner, stated that, “The University is committed to openness and publishes information widely about its activities… Provided that commercial confidentiality and the individual’s data protection rights are observed, we have no difficulty with transparency in higher education.”