Vice-chancellors should appoint an “academic freedom champion” within their senior leadership team to counter growing concerns that scholars and students are afraid to speak out on issues of sex and gender, says a report.
In a pamphlet published by the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, UCL professors Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan suggest that institutional leaders have not done enough to defend campus free speech in the face of “absolutist” demands from transgender rights campaigners, which have led to the cancellation of campus events and campaigns for academics to be fired.
To address the issue, universities should “promote academic freedom alongside equality” by creating a free speech “champion” to ensure that there is a “voice positively promoting academic freedom” within management discussions. Institutional champions would also check that “all policies that may intersect with academic freedom are subject to the scrutiny of the academic governing body”, the study adds.
