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Dear Vice Chancellor,
We write as academics to express our grave concern regarding the disruption of Dr Michael Foran’s lectures on “Sex, Gender Identity and the Law”. Following disruption of the first two lectures in the planned series, which included intimidation of students in the audience by the demonstrators, Dr Foran felt obliged to cancel the remaining lectures in the series.
The University of Oxford’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech states that all protests must be approved by the Proctors and unapproved protests may be subject to disciplinary action. It appears that the University Proctors authorised and facilitated protests inside the lecture theatre and did nothing to remove miscreants. Members of the Proctors’ Office, including the Senior Proctor, can be seen in videos of the disruption. The Proctors have enabled the exercise of a heckler’s veto.
We fully support students’ right to engage in peaceful protest, which does not imply a right to disrupt teaching or research. The Office for Students Regulatory Advice 24 is clear that universities and colleges can legitimately regulate the time, place and manner of protests, and this does not constitute interference with the right to protest.
The failure of the Proctors to uphold the essential functions of the university has created a hostile and degrading environment for Michael Foran and his students, and will inevitably contribute to a chilling effect constraining the discussion of sex and gender at the university.
The disruption of lectures violates the rights of students and other audience members to listen, to participate in discussion, and to learn from their lecturers and from one another. The university must act to ensure that Dr Foran’s lectures can be rescheduled, and that no disruptive protest will be authorised. It should be made clear to the student body that any disruption will be met with disciplinary action. We further suggest that the Proctors should receive training to ensure that they understand the legal duties of the university and their role in upholding these duties.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Alice Sullivan
University College London
Dr John Armstrong
King's College London
Professor Ian Pace
Professor of Music, Culture and Society; City St George’s, University of London
Professor Stephen Warren
Imperial College London
Dr Prakash Shah
Reader in Culture and Law, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Yuan Yi Zhu
Assistant Professor of International Relations and International Law, Leiden University
Professor Dennis Hayes
Director, Academics For Academic Freedom
Eleri Hedley-Carter
DPhil candidate in Modern British History, University of Oxford
Dr Robert Laverick
Senior Lecturer, Founder of LeedsUniAFAF
Professor Jo Phoenix
University of Reading
Professor Christina Perry
Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Ruth Mieschbuehler
Senior Lecturer, Founder of DerbyUniAFAF
Professor Abhishek Saha
Queen Mary University of London
Michael Stewart
Professor of Anthropology, UCL
Jessica Evans
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University
Austin Williams
course leader, PGDip Professional Practice in Architecture
Dr Edward Howell
Lecturer in Politics, University of Oxford
Vanessa Pupavac
Honorary Associate Professor, University of Nottingham
Professor Mark Elliott
Professor of Public Law, University of Cambridge
Professor Emeritus Paul du Gay
Royal Holloway Business School, University of London
Professor Lesley Gourlay
Professor of Education, UCL
Samiksha Bhattacharjee
President, University College London Libertarian Society
Graham Child, Fellow
Lincoln College, Oxford
Professor Michael Biggs
Professor of Sociology and Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford
Professor Laurence Hemming
Lancaster University and Knapp Foundation
Professor Lindsay Paterson FBA
Professor Emeritus of Education Policy, University of Edinburgh
Michelle Shipworth
Associate Professor, UCL Energy Institute
Prof Lee Jones
Professor of Political Economy and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Gale Macleod
University of Edinburgh
Kerry Sun
DPhil Student in Law, Merton College, Oxford
Emeritus Professor Richard Dawkins FRS
University of Oxford
Tess Melina Ashen
Chemistry PhD Researcher, University of Plymouth
Heather McKee
PhD student, University of Buckingham. Founder of SAFAF.
Professor Michael Ben-Gad
Professor of Economics, City St George’s, University of London
Professor Brendan Burchell
University of Cambridge
Dr William Poole
Senior Tutor, Fellow in English, Fellow Librarian, New College, Oxford
Dr Rebecca Gordon, Associate Professor
UCL
Professor Alan Sokal
University College London
Dr. N. Vittal
University College London
Dr Chloe Marshall
Emerita Professor of Psychology, Language and Education, UCL
Gemma Moss
University College London
Professor Tak Wing Chan
University College London
Professor Bob Bowie NTF, FHI
Professor of Religion and Worldviews Education, Canterbury Christ Church University
Professor Ralph Wilde
Professor of International Law, University College London
Dr Jo Thor
University of Edinburgh
Prof. David Shipworth
University College London
Professor Ellie Lee
Professor of Family and Parenting Research
Emeritus Professor Steven Greer
University of Bristol
Amanda Gosling
Economics, University of Kent
Professor Saul Jacka
Professor of Statistics, Warwick University and AFAF representative
Colin Mills
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Oxford
Dr Paul Norman
Associate Professor Population & Health, University of Leeds
James Elander
Professor of Health Psychology, University of Derby
Professor Ann Oakley
University College London
Philip Murray
College Assistant Professor in Law, Robinson College, Cambridge
Associate Professor Georgia Testa
University of Leeds
Professor Anthony R Cox FRCPharm FBPhS
Professor in Clinical Pharmacy and Drug Safety, University of Birmingham
Professor Sarah Pedersen
Dean, Graduate School, Robert Gordon University
Kirstine Hansen
Professor of Social Policy, University College London
Professor Murray Smith
Professor of Philosophy, Art, and Film, University of Kent
Brian Dodgeon
Research Fellow, UCL Social Research Institute
Professor Francis Green
Emeritus Professor, University College London
Neil Thin
Senior Lecturer [Retd] University of Edinburgh
Dr Bella Vivat
Principal Research Fellow, University College London (UCL)
Professor David Pilgrim
University of Southampton
Dr Julia Gasper
Independent Researcher
Professor Ray Kiely
Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Mary Leng
Professor of Philosophy, University of York
Professor Peter Ramsay
Professor of Law, London School of Economics
Dr Charlotte Goodburn
King's College London
Miguel Leon-Ledesma
Professor of Economics, University of Exeter,
Professor Stephen P. Jenkins
LSE
Claire MacLeod
University of Oxford
Professor Jouni Kuha
Professor of Social Statistics, LSE
Professor Sir Bernard Silverman FRS
Emeritus Professor of Statistics, University of Oxford
Professor Emeritus Chris Brown
London School of Economics and Political Science
Professor James Hughes
Professor of Comparative Politics, LSE
Diane Reyniers
Professor in Management, LSE
Professor Larry Ray
Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Kent
Jacqueline Scott
Professor of Empirical Sociology (Emerita), University of Cambridge
Charlie Owen
University College London
Dr Hannah Quirk
Reader in Criminal Law, King's College London
Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly FRS
Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine. University of Cambridge
Dr Alexander Morrison
New College, Oxford
Lottie Tredgett
Master’s Student in Philosophy, King’s College London
Dr John McGowan, Principal Lecturer
Canterbury Christ Church University
Professor Frank Furedi
Emeritus profesor of Sociology, University of Kent
Lynsey Metcalfe
University of Cambridge
Professor Oriel Sullivan
Social Research Institute, UCL
Catherine Lawless
Trinity College Dublin
Professor Kevin Yuill
Emeritus Professor of History, University of Sunderland
Professor Martin Anthony
London School of Economics and Political Science
Professor Andrew Bennett
University of Bristol
Professor Diane Rasmussen
Advisory Board Member, Academics for Academic Freedom
Maria McKinney
Postgraduate student, Technological University of the Shannon
Professor Jon Pike
Professor of Philosophy, The Open University
Professor David Paton
Chair of Industrial Economics, Nottingham University Business School
Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa
London School of Economics and Political Science
Professor Mark Collard
Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
Professor Kai Möller
Law School, London School of Economics
Professor Steve Strand
University of Oxford
Dr Sue Regan
University of Durham
Dr Julia Jordan
Associate Professor of English Literature, UCL
Edward Skidelsky
Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Exeter
Stuart McGowan
Aberystwyth University
Dr. Miroslav Imbrišević
Lecturer in Political Philosophy, Allen Hall/London
Jasmine Bhatia
Senior Lecturer in Politics, Birkbeck University of London
Dr Ashley Hannay
University of Manchester
Professor Sir Michael Pepper FREng FRS
Pender Professor of Nanoelectronics, UCL; Fellow Trinity College Cambridge
J.P. Loo
BPhil student, Somerville College and Faculty of Philosophy
Professor Peter Sarris
Professor of History, University of Cambridge
Professor Andrew Lawrence
University of Edinburgh
Professor Ryan Alford LLD
Professor, Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University
Laura Ross
University of Stirling
Dr Iva Tasseva
London School of Economics and Political Science
Professor Emerita Anna Sapir Abulafia FBA
Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford
Professor Heather Joshi
Emeritus Professor of Economic Demography, University College London
Professor Thomas Prosser
Cardiff University
Professor Emerita Sally Power
Cardiff University
Dr David Petrik
Cardiff University
Professor David Parrott
Professor of Early Modern History, University of Oxford
Dr Branko Latinkic
Cardiff University
Professor Andrew Davies
Emeritus Professor of Modern Social History, University of Liverpool
John Marenbon FBA
Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr Tristan Price
Associate Professor of Clinical Education, University of Plymouth
Dr Adrian Hilton
Visiting Lecturer, University of Buckingham
Dr. Leslie A. Howe
Professor Emerita, Philosophy, University of Saskatchewan
Tessa Rigby
Masters student, yr 1, University of Derby
Professor James Harrison
School of Law, University of Warwick
Dr Claire Reddleman
Lecturer in Digital Humanities, University of Manchester
Dr Bibek Bhatta
Senior Lecturer, Queen's University Belfast
Dr Lorraine Douglas
Independent Researcher
Professor Andrew Watterson
University of Stirling
Professor (Emeritus) Colin Wight
University of Sydney
Dr Roopal Desai
Clinical Fellow, University College London
Prof Nick Bailey
Professor of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow
Dr Andrew Dunn
None
Professor Adam Hedgecoe
Cardiff University
Dr Claire Street
Canterbury Christ Church University
Asen Ivanov
Reader in Economics, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Katie Alcock
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Lancaster University
Professor Andrew Doig
Professor of Biochemistry, University of Manchester
Professor Emerita Perdita Stevens
University of Edinburgh
Professor Emerita Ruth Parry MMedSci, PhD
School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Loughborough University
Mark Kelly
Western Sydney University
Dr Jim Butcher
Canterbury Christ Church University
Mark Blagrove
Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Swansea University
Dr Diana Bental
Assistant Professor, Heriot-Watt University
Emeritus Professor Chris Hamnett
King's College London
Prof Lucinda Platt OBE
London School of Economics and Political Science
Dr Mark Burgess
Associate Professor in Psychology, Oxford Brookes University
Dr Yvonne Hail
University of Stirling
Aileen O'Brien
Reader in Psychiatry and Education, City St George's University of London
Dr. Kyri N. Kotsoglou
Associate Professor in Law, Northumbria University University
Nico Macdonald
Researcher in Entrepreneurship Studies
Cathy Devine
Independent Scholar
Professor Jane L Hutton
The University of Warwick
Professor John Haldon FBA
Princeton University
Dr Tim Crowley
School of Philosophy, UCD; Convenor of Dublin Universities Academics for Academic Freedom
Dr. Andrew Chase
Associate Professor (Retired), University of Southampton
Professor Mark Smith
Professor in Social Work, University of Dundee
Professor Gary L. Francione
Professor Emeritus (Rutgers); Honorary Professor (UEA and Lincoln)
Caroline Struthers
Independent Researcher
Dr Jennie Bristow
Reader in Sociology, Canterbury Christ Church University
Kathryn Young
Social Work Lecturer, University of Dundee
Dr Martin Caminada
Cardiff University
Honorary Professor Michelle McCarthy
University of Kent
Associate Professor Fabiola Mota Consejero
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Dr Luis Miralles
Lecturer in Computer Science, Technological University Dublin
Sarah Galloway
Honorary Lecturer, University of Stirling
Professor Louise Barrett
Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge
Emeritus Professor Jane Fenton
Emeritus Professor of Social Work Education, University of Dundee
Professor David Voas
University College London
Andrew Denis, PhD
Fellow emeritus in political economy, City St George's, University of London
Matthew H. Kramer FBA
Cambridge University
Dr Roger Teichmann
Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Oxford
Professor Fionn Dunne FREng
Imperial College London
Dr Don Trubshaw
Nottingham Trent University
Trezza Azzopardi
Lecturer, University of East Anglia
Professor Johan Bolhuis
Affiliated Professor, University of Cambridge
Emeritus Professor Paul Dennis
University of East Anglia
Emeritus Professor John Preston
University of Reading
Ms Nicola Drew
PhD Candidate in Sociology, The University of York
Peter Cave
The Open University
Professor Caroline Morris
Professor of Constitutional Law, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Andrea Prinsloo
University of Surrey
Professor Stephen McLeod
Professor of Philosophy, University of Liverpool
Dr Anita Bunyan
Associate Professor of German, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Lucy Porteous
Senior Teaching Fellow in Social Work, University of Portsmouth
Professor TRS Allan FBA
Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Law emeritus, University of Cambridge
Professor Markus Bockmuehl
University of Oxford
Ursula Halligan
PhD Student, Trinity College Dublin.
Dr David Clifford
Associate Professor, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge
Diana Bailey
University of Edinburgh
Dr Lindsey Davidson
Lecturer in Jewish Studies, University of Bristol
Professor Michelle Norris
University College Dublin
Dr Ace North
University of Oxford
Professor Mark Sherry
Retired Professor, The University of Toledo
Professor Tina Beattie
Professor Emerita of Catholic Studies, University of Roehampton
Dr Nicholas J. Moberly
Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter
Richard Rex
Professor of Reformation History, University of Cambridge
Professor Sarah Baker
University of Lincoln
Professor Jon Cole
University of Liverpool
Professor Steven Courtney
University of Manchester
Professor Emeritus John Papaloizou FRS
DAMTP University of Cambridge
Dr Sean Thomas
Reader, York Law School, University of York
Dr Maria Skoutaridou
Postdoc Researcher-Writer
Professor Julian Jamison
Univ of Exeter
Professor Paul Elbourne
Professor of the Philosophy of Language, University of Oxford
Yehuda John Levy
University of Glasgow
Patrick McGovern, Reader in Sociology
London School of Economics & Political Science
Dr Kathryn Webb
University of Oxford
Dr Caspar Hewett
Newcastle University
Dr Ashley Mills
University of Kent
Professor John W. Cairns, LLD FRSE
Professor of Civil Law, University of Edinburgh
Dr Neil Mclatchie
Independent scholar
Dr. Margaret Parks
Independent Scholar
Dr Ian Stark
University of Edinburgh
Professor Bill Durodie
The University of Bath
Amy Laurent
Senior Lecturer in Arts and H umanities, University of Bristol
Gilbert Markus
Celtic and Gaelic, University of Glasgow
Eoin O'Malley
School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
Michael Brown OBE
University of Worcester
Professor Irena Grugulis
University of Leeds
James Davidson
Emeritus Professor of Econometrics, University of Exeter
Kolbeinn Stefansson
University of Iceland, Department of Social Work
Professor Hillel Steiner FBA
Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Manchester
Professor David Sheffield
Professor of Psychology, University of Derby
Professor Marie Lall
Chair in Education and South Asian Studies, UCL Institute of Education
Emeritus Professor Kim Stevenson
Professor of Sociolegal History, University of Plymouth
Christopher Lomas
Independent Researcher
Dr Alan N Hunt
University of Southampton
Scott Wortley
Lecturer in private law, University of Edinburgh
Christopher Martin
Formerly of University of St Thomas, Houston; Glasgow University
Dr Eva Lippold
University of Reading
Dr Penny Lewis
University of Dundee
Dr Jennifer Iles
Retired, University of Roehampton
Dr Matt Beech
Reader in Politics, University of Hull
Prof. David Wootton
(Emeritus) University of York
William Max Knorpp
Professor of Philosophy, James Madison University
Peter Rogers
None
Wan Manan
Professor
Dr. Aaron Turner
Research Associate at Royal Holloway and Assistant Director of the Knapp Foundation
Vladimir Dotsenko
Professor, Université de Strasbourg
Anne Buckley
Associate Professor in German & Translation Studies, University of Leeds
Anna Bogomolnaia
Professor in Economics, University of Glasgow
Professor Jane Lightfoot, FBA
New College, Oxford
Andrea Holland, Associate Professor
University of East Anglia
Dr John Baird
University of Aberdeen
Domna Salonen
PhD student, Newcastle University / Administrative Assistant, AFAF
Dr Mike Eslea
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Lancashire
Eric Kaufmann
University of Buckingham
Professor Christopher James
Professor, University of Warwick
Professor Miri Song
Visiting Professor, LSE
Richard Calver
Department of Archaeology and History, University of Exeter
Dr Miranda Voss
Imperial College, London
Prof Emyr Macdonald
Cardiff University
Honorary Professor Alexander Weiss FRSB
Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh
Rinke Vinkenoog
Northumbria University
Cora Diamond
University of Virginia
Ekin Genç
DPhil, University of Oxford
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