Macquarie University law students have condemned their course’s growing ideological focus, revealing they have been pressured to perform a “privilege walk” and adopt personas to understand power and status. They say their education has been hijacked by political activism, with a key course convenor now doubling down on controversial assessment criteria.
Holly Doel-Mackaway, convenor of the elective Age and the Law course, defended the requirement for students to perform an Acknowledgment of Country as part of their assessment. She reportedly said on Wednesday that those who failed to deliver a suitable proclamation would “not meet the metric or rubric.”
Students have pushed back against what they see as a politicised curriculum, with one saying they felt pressured to “express an opinion that I don’t truly believe in.”
A former honours student, speaking anonymously, told The Australian that students were required to deliver an “exceptionally thoughtful and respectful Acknowledgement of Country or Welcome to Country” as part of their thesis presentation, taking up around 30 seconds of their three-minute speech. The student said this had no connection to their thesis subject.
Doel-Mackaway reportedly told students that the requirement was about “acknowledging your positionality as a student of law on this unceded land.”
Hellbound and Down 