There is news of a heartening free speech fightback at Oxford University, as attempts by censorious student activists to no-platform gender critical philosopher Dr Kathleen Stock (above) and punish the society that invited her to speak on campus have been thwarted (Times, Telegraph).
That’s thanks in part to the FSU. We wrote to the University of Oxford to complain about the decision by the Oxford University Students’ Union (OUSU) to ban the world-famous Oxford Union Society (OU) from having a stall at the next freshers’ fair, seemingly in response to the OU’s refusal to no-platform Dr Kathleen Stock, whom it has invited to give a talk on May 30th. (You can read our letter in full here.)
The backstory to this latest outbreak of censorial student behaviour is fairly convoluted, but early signs of trouble emerged back in April when the University’s LGBTQ+ Society said it was “dismayed and appalled” that the debating society had “decided to platform the transphobic and trans exclusionary speaker Kathleen Stock”.
Pursuing a now well-worn cancellation tactic, in which the preservation of the student body’s psychological safety is positioned as the supreme categorical imperative, the LGBTQ+ Society accused the Union of “disregarding the welfare of its LGBTQ+ members under the guise of free speech”.
OUSU then upped the ante when it passed a motion to sever ties with the 200-year-old debating society. The move would have prevented the Union from having a stall at freshers’ fair, which accounts for about half the new members that sign up each year.
In our letter, we asked the University Proctors, who are responsible for maintaining student discipline, to investigate OUSU’s officers for having broken the University’s rules protecting free speech. As we pointed out, a minority of student activists should not get to silence dissenting views for everyone else.
Worth mentioning, too, that over 100 Oxford students wrote to the Telegraph to condemn the harassment, bullying and threats made against the Oxford Union for inviting Dr Stock to speak and said that those at the University who wish to silence free speech “do not speak for us”.
Forty-four Oxford dons also put their heads above the parapet and wrote an open letter in support of Dr Stock’s right to express her views. The academics, ranging from well-known professors such as Richard Dawkins to younger lecturers, are united in the belief that the right to free speech is sacred and has to be defended (Times).
Thanks to this pressure, Oxford’s new Vice-Chancellor intervened and said the event must go ahead. Pressure was applied by the Vice-Chancellor’s office to OUSU, which has since reversed its decision to ban the Union from freshers’ fair – although up to 1,000 protestors have said they’ll try to prevent students attending tomorrow afternoon’s event.
Let’s hope the local police and the OU’s security staff are able to make sure it goes ahead as planned. I’ll be attending to show my solidarity with Kathleen Stock.
