There was more backroom censorship than we were told.
Pippa Rogerson, master of Gonville and Caius, and senior tutor Andrew Spencer sparked controversy last month by announcing they were boycotting a visit by Helen Joyce.
In an email to students they said the bestselling author’s views on transgender people were ‘offensive, insulting, and hateful to members of our community’. In the October 19 message the pair said they could not ‘stay neutral’ and would avoid the talk, which had been organised by Arif Ahmed, a Gonville fellow and professor of philosophy.
We knew that much, but there’s more.
But the academics also prevented Professor Ahmed from publicising the event on Venn, the college intranet system, Varsity student newspaper reported. Professor Ahmed told colleagues: ‘I have tried to advertise this event on the Venn but the master and the senior tutor have told me that I cannot do this, on the grounds that “further publicity will only inflame already heightened tensions in college”.’
Imagine someone is giving a talk on racism, and some students are Offended on the grounds that racism doesn’t exist and anyway white people are best – would the master and senior tutor tell the talk-giver “You cannot advertise the event on Venn because further publicity will only inflame already heightened tensions in college?”
I don’t think so.
Comments
3 responses to “Further publicity will only inflame”
But the right of bullshit to be whatever it purports to be must be respected. And also its right to silence non-bullshit rivals. It’s Socratic; it’s Hegelian. It’s the vibe of the moment. Otherwise chaos and anarchy.
They just didn’t want it to be “divisive.”
And their views weren’t?