| Good morning The University of Sydney has made an unprecedented offer to protesting students camping at the university to undertake a “comprehensive independent review” of the university’s research partnerships by the end of the year provided the protesters agree on a timetable to remove the encampment from university grounds. The offer was reportedly rejected, but is open until 3pm on Thursday 30 May. The proposed review would be conducted by a working group composed of representatives of students, staff and alumni, university leadership and independent representatives. Students in the protest encampment would be invited to put forward names to join the group. In a message to the university community on Tuesday vice-chancellor Mark Scott said that “many of the concerns raised by the encampment representatives are substantive and far-reaching”. The university also offered to review its investments in defence and security industries, and to double the humanitarian support it gives through its Scholars at Risk program to academics and PhD students. It also offered to “engage our academic expertise in a range of areas to research and uncover instances of the university’s engagement in racial ideas and practices in the past”. “We are committed to genuinely responding to the deeply held concerns of the encampment,” Professor Scott said in the message. “Through good-faith dialogue, we seek to reach a shared pathway forward with immediately actionable commitments.” Aside from the University of Sydney, the weeks of protests on campuses against Israel’s actions in Gaza are winding down and Monash University’s incoming chancellor Megan Clark said universities were moving into the “really important phase in any crisis which is the really hard work to address the systemic issues that need to be addressed, and that takes years”. In related news the University of Melbourne said it was ready for difficult conversations about its early benefactors, its role as the centre of eugenics science in Australia and its practice of collecting Aboriginal body parts. And in other news the graduate job market remained very strong last year, with the full-time employment rate for those completing undergraduate courses hitting a 15 year high. Until next Wednesday | 