At the first online Student Council of Trinity Term 2020, a motion on “Academic Hate Speech” was passed. Made up of Common Room Presidents and Representatives, Campaigns, Divisional Representatives, and Sabbatical Officers, Student Council sets the policy of Oxford SU.
At the first online Student Council of Trinity Term 2020, a motion on “Academic Hate Speech” was passed. Made up of Common Room Presidents and Representatives, Campaigns, Divisional Representatives, and Sabbatical Officers, Student Council sets the policy of Oxford SU.
Academics and students must be free to critically engage with contentious texts for the purpose of education and research. However, the academic platform should not be used merely to disseminate inflammatory views which may actively cause harm to students. If there is mandatory reading material which does so, we of course condemn its use. Indeed we condemn all hate speech against transgender, non-binary, disabled, working-class, and women* students, whether that appears in academic writing or elsewhere.
We must fight to uphold academic freedom whilst protecting our students from abusive sentiment. There is a difference between debate and abuse and the two should not be confused.
We note that many disadvantaged groups against whom hate speech is directed are currently not protected by legislation, and therefore using this as the benchmark for academic free speech is insufficient to protect such groups within the University. One of the most powerful ways to combat hate speech is through ensuring that the voices of disadvantaged groups are represented on reading lists. We strongly support efforts within the University (e.g. the Law Faculty https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/about-us/equality-and-diversity) to diversify the curriculum.
Due to the pandemic, like everyone, we’ve had to find new ways of working and a new way of operating Council. Council is constantly reviewing these processes and the Chair will be sending a feedback form to all voting members. If you feel that some of the nuances of this debate may have been lost due to the restrictions of the online format, please feed this back. We also encourage you to participate in the democratic structures of Council - all Student Members can attend, speak, and propose motions or amendments at Council meetings.
Ray Williams, Vice-President (Access & Academic Affairs) 2019-20
Róisín McCallion, Vice-President (Welfare & Equal Opportunities) 2019-20