By Eleanor Harding, Education Editor For The NEWSWALLA Published: 19:02 EDT, 8 October 2024 | Updated: 21:12 EDT, 8 October 2024
Oxford University has issued ‘free speech tips’ for students to use during new termly debates which will help them see other people’s perspectives.Vice Chancellor Irene Tracey said she had brought in the initiative to ‘reaffirm the importance’ of free speech and celebrate ‘difference’.Her comments, in her annual address yesterday, came as Oxford was named the best university in the world for a record-breaking ninth year in a row in international rankings.Oxford students have repeatedly been embroiled in free speech furores, including incidents of ‘no-platforming’ and censorship.Professor Tracey said: ‘Freedom of speech is the lifeblood of our university and we uphold the right for everyone to openly express their views and opinions with respect and courtesy, within the limits of the law.’ Oxford University has issued ‘free speech tips’ for students to use during new termly debates. Vice Chancellor Irene Tracey said she had brought in the initiative to ‘reaffirm the importance’ of free speech and celebrate ‘difference’ Oxford students have repeatedly been embroiled in free speech furores, including incidents of ‘no-platforming’ and censorship The university has launched a new ‘Sheldonian Series’ of events, which are due to start next month, where students and staff will be able to hear from scholars and voices from a range of fields, she announcedShe added: ‘It is clear we need to reaffirm the importance of free and inclusive speech, diversity of thought and vibrant exchange of ideas.’The university has launched a new ‘Sheldonian Series’ of events, which are due to start next month, where students and staff will be able to hear from scholars and voices from a range of fields, she announced.The first event in November will explore democracy just weeks after the US presidential election.And she said she hoped participants would use a ‘Free Speech Tips’ document, which was developed by Worcester College and a number of students, academics and Heads of House.The tips relate to ‘planning events with difficult conversations’ and include pointers such as ‘the right to disagree should always be respected’ and ‘there is no right not to be shocked or offended’.In her speech Professor Tracey added that difference — of origin, religion, politics, sexual orientation, or of ideas or ways of expressing them — is ‘increasingly seen as a threat’.She added: ‘As a university, we must nurture and celebrate our differences, confident that those who try to divide us into same-looking and same-thinking tribes, whether by selfish design or accidental algorithm, will ultimately fail.‘Let us all dare to be different, to do things differently, and to bring forward the day that the world remembers the beauty of the kaleidoscope of humanity.’ Kathleen Stock (pictured outside Oxford Union last year) resigned from her role at the University of Sussex in 2021 after a huge backlash over her comments on transgender rightsIn May last year, protests were staged outside an Oxford Union talk by Professor Kathleen Stock over her views on gender identity.The row saw a group of Oxford academics sign a letter supporting the right of transgender students to speak out against Professor Stock days before the event.Today, rankings compiled by Times Higher Education named Oxford as the world’s best university, with 25 other UK institutions in the top 200.However, experts warned that the reputation of the UK higher education sector is likely to ‘weaken’ if the funding environment does not improve.
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Oxford University issues ‘free speech tips’ for students to use during new termly debates ‘to help them see other people’s perspectives’