Compulsory ‘inclusivity’ sessions at Gonville and Caius: our letter and the Master’s reply
7 October 2026
On 1 October 2026 the Free Speech Union’s General Secretary, Lord Young of Acton, wrote to Professor Richard Gilbertson, Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, about the College’s plan, reported in The Spectator, to require undergraduates to attend a 90-minute ‘inclusivity’ session delivered by the charity Stop Hate UK.
The letter set out three concerns: that attendance had been described as mandatory; that Stop Hate UK’s published materials misstate the law on hate crime and the Equality Act 2010 in ways likely to chill lawful speech; and that the arrangement sits uneasily with the College’s duty, under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, to secure freedom of speech within the law. It asked the College to confirm in writing that attendance is optional and carries no sanction; to disclose the session materials and the brief given to Stop Hate UK; to confirm that no student would be required to endorse a contested viewpoint; to give attendees an accurate account of their free speech rights; and to say whether the decision to engage Stop Hate UK was recorded as the Office for Students’ guidance requires.
The Master of Caius was kind enough to reply to our letter and has made it clear that the Stop Hate UK course we raised concerns about isn’t compulsory – that was a miscommunication – and no student at Caius is required to assent to a prescribed set of views as a condition of matriculating.
We note that this is a better answer than that given by Baroness Royall, then the Principal of Somerville College, whom we wrote to in 2021 about a similar course that all students had been told was mandatory. She wrote back to say it wasn’t, but if any student didn’t want to do it they would have to come and see her to explain why. Professor Gilbertson, by contrast, says no excuses are required for non-attendance.
Our letter to the Master, 1 October 2026
Download our letter as a PDF ↓
The Master’s reply, 7 October 2026
Download the Master’s reply as a PDF ↓
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