Hallam Uni discusses legal action against graduate who called lecturers ‘left-wing indoctrinators’

Sheffield Hallam University is discussing taking a graduate to court after he publicly accused lecturers of "left-wing indoctrination", The Sheffield Tab can reveal.

The former student has made a blog naming and shaming 10 current and former staff in the uni's politics and sociology departments, which he claims are a "bunch of far-left propagandists".

Named Sheffield Hallam Exposed, it lists alleged examples of lecturers at the uni "promoting" anarchy, communism and socialism in class, and ridiculing those who dare to disagree.

The Sheffield Tab alerted SHU to the 1,500 word blog and its contents, prompting bosses to launch discussions over whether to sue the person behind it.

A Sheffield Hallam University spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of a blog that includes potentially defamatory information. As a result the University is considering taking legal action.”

Among the accusations is that Hallam's former principal politics lecturer "promoted" socialism to students, had a picture of Karl Marx hanging in his office, and allegedly told another lecturer that two bottles of champagne in his office fridge were "for the day Margaret Thatcher died".

The ex-student also claims a former Hallam lecturer, who was head of politics, made his third-year module on anarchy a "one-sided indoctrination session", where he spoke of his own role in the radical far-left Occupy movement.

He also claims another lecturer, who taught a module on anarchy, "openly admitted that she felt her job as a lecturer was to try and persuade students to come round to her point of view rather than teach impartially".

Other lecturers are accused on the blog of urging undergraduates to vote Labour in elections, encouraging jazz hands in place of clapping in class, mocking those who mention the words "politically correct", and calling Eurosceptic students "people who fail this module".

The Tab Sheffield also found that SHU Politics, a Twitter account claiming to be "the Twitter feed of the BA (Hons) Politics degree at Sheffield Hallam University" has only tweeted eight times, five of which are links to pro-EU or anti-Tory ideas.

The university says in prospectus material that the same politics course allows students to "think clearly and objectively" and "debate" ideas.

However, the grad claims Hallam's politics and sociology departments are wasting students' and taxpayers' money, adding the course is "simply used to promote left-wing propaganda at public expense."

He continues: "Virtually all the lecturers are on the hard-left of the political spectrum and use the course to impose their own views on students at the expense of teaching quality subject matter, or addressing alternative points of view.

"The quality of teaching is poor and vague, and focuses on subjects that are of importance to the hard-left. I eventually graduated with a degree that was of zero utility either academically or otherwise. I would also like to advise people not to repeat the mistake of studying here."

It comes amid growing concerns of an assault on freedom of speech in universities, leading to accusations that students and staff are "snowflakes" trying to censor those who hold controversial opinions.

In November 2017 Sheffield Hallam SU voted almost unanimously to uphold its no-platforming motion banning "any individual known to hold racist or fascist views from entering union premises".

Earlier this month the neighbouring SU at the University of Sheffield held meetings to discuss how to make the institution more "anti-racist" – but white students were banned from attending.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has written to the Office for Students demanding that all undergraduates sign contracts promising they won't attempt to "no-platform" speakers, and will stand against racist, sexist or anti-Semitic abuse.