This is probably the one of the few, yet significant, positive outcomes of the protests on the 6th of April, which witnessed a pathetic performance by the opposition groups in the streets, contrasted with strong mobilization on the campuses, namely Ain Shams, Helwan, Mansoura and Cairo. Except for the first, the other three universities are witnessing a steady growth of the radical left, with the balance of power in a university like Helwan for example totally shifting to the left, probably for the first time ever on a university campus since the late 1970s!
On the 6th of April, after mobilizing hundreds of students in Cairo University, a delegation from the Students Coordinating Committee (a united front that includes Haqqi, MBs, Labor Party and 6th of April Youth) pressured the president university into holding a public meeting, which took place yesterday, to discuss the set of demands the SCC was putting forward that day: subsidizing the text books, expulsion of police from the campuses, among others. After a stormy meeting attended by roughly 200 students, the Haqqi activists managed to play a central role in extracting a promise from Cairo U president Hossam Kamel (the brother of Telecommunications Mnister Tarek Kamel) that by the 20th of April a Kiosk will be set up in each faculty on Cairo U campus, which will sell the university text books for prices no more than LE10.
This is really really significant.. and if the activists keep up the pressure on the administration to stick to its promise, such outcome would tremendously benefit the student community and create more legitimacy for the activists as militant campaigners for the issues that directly affect the daily lives of students on campus.
