UK university fined £585k for ‘failing to uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom’

The University of Sussex has been fined £585,000 for failing to “uphold freedom of speech” and “perpetuating the culture wars”.

This follows a three-and-a-half year investigation into how the University of Sussex dealt with the behaviour of a Kathleen Stock. The philosophy professor wrote a book about gender identity and biological sex which was controversial among students. After weeks of protests, Kathleen Stock resigned.

The Office for Students (OfS) took issue with the University of Sussex’s Trans and Non-Binary Equality Policy Statement. The policy required “any materials within relevant courses and modules [to] positively represent trans people and trans lives” and said “the curriculum shall not rely on or reinforce stereotypical assumption about trans people”. The university’s policy also stated “transphobic propaganda… will not be tolerated” and said “transphobic abuse” was “serious disciplinary offences”.

The OfS decided this policy “failed to uphold the freedom of speech and academic freedom public interest governance principles” and fined the university £360,000.

The regulator also fined the university another £225,000 for not having “adequate and effective management and governance arrangements in place” to deal with freedom of speech issues. The OfS found the case of Kathleen Stock demonstrated there was a “chilling effect” at the university. The report said “Professor Stock said that she became more cautious in her expression of gender critical views as a result of the policy” and felt she couldn’t teach some her views at the university. The OfS was concerned other staff and students might have not felt able to express similar viewpoints at the university.

Kathleen Stock at the Oxford Union
(Credit: YouTube)

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The University of Sussex called the investigation a “vindictive and unreasonable campaign”. The university said the OfS had tried to make an example of the university to “entrench an extreme libertarian free speech position”. The University of Sussex claimed the Trans and Non-Binary Equality Police Statement came from a template and had been changed.

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Feature image credit: Ak689 via Creative Commons.