Broadcast: News items

Today (7 October) the Vice Chancellor, Adam Tickell, wrote to all staff. You can read the email in full below:

Dear colleague,

I usually send these messages on a Friday but events this week have made it necessary to bring this forward.

Everyone at the University has the right, in law and under the University’s Dignity and Respect policy, to be free from harassment and intimidation.

Yesterday, there was a protest on campus which, from the initial evidence, appears to have been designed to attack Professor Kathleen Stock for exercising her academic freedoms, and to pressurise the University to terminate her employment. Although the overwhelming number of messages I have received about the incident have supported Kathleen, I have been disturbed to receive amongst them a message calling for Kathleen to be sacked.

An investigation into the incident and its aftermath is underway and, in order not to prejudice any subsequent action, I don’t want to comment too much at this stage. However, the University cannot and will not tolerate threats to cherished academic freedoms and will take any action necessary to protect the rights of our staff.

With best wishes,

Adam