Faced with the lack of support from the State, the University of Lille is organizing a “dead university day” on Tuesday, December 3

It was by email that the presidency of the University of Lille began to inform its staff of the action taken this Tuesday, December 3: “operating as a public holiday in the middle of the week will show all our partners the impact of activities of the university”, writes Régis Bordet, the president of the University of Lille, the largest in France with 80,000 students enrolled. This action follows the meeting of French university presidents on November 21, who alerted the Minister of Higher Education to “the untenable situation of universities, a consequence of national measures taken by the State without them being compensated”.

Under-resourced universities

The president of the University of Lille recalls that it is one of those “historically under-resourced with a public service charge subsidy lower than the national average”. The inflationary and energy shock of 2022 has worsened the situation. The final blow arrived with “uncompensated government measures (increase in the index point, increase in the CAS Pension contribution rate)explains Régis Bordet in this internal email that France Bleu Nord obtained. It is for this reason that the university management committee decided to propose to the rectorate a very deficit initial 2025 budget while maintaining the majority of projects and actions. In this email intended for staff, it is indicated that it “it will not be necessary to respond to, nor send emails and telephone calls of a professional nature, nor organize meetings, nor carry out teaching. Only thesis defenses will be carried out in sites which may exceptionally be relocated, as will some of the planned examinations and not reportable”.