Oxford Chief Wades into University Trans Row Over Free Speech Threat

Pro-vice chancellor Martin Williams has urged students to 'encounter and confront difficult views'

Oxford University on Sept. 20, 2016. Carl Court/Getty Images

An Oxford University chief has waded into a trans row that has rocked the institution.

Professor Martin Williams—one of Oxford’s pro-vice-chancellors—said students must “encounter and confront difficult views” after attempts to ban a gender-critical speaker from a university event.

Leading feminist Kathleen Stock has been invited to speak by members of the Oxford Union at an upcoming debating event, but her scheduled appearance received a student backlash.

She was accused by some students as being transphobic over her gender identity views which include that it is fiction to claim “trans women are women.”

Attempts to deplatform the philosopher were condemned in an open letter signed by more than 40 of Oxford’s dons including evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins.

In one of the most significant interventions by academics in recent free speech controversies, the 44 scholars with “a range of different political beliefs, Left and Right” said universities should be “places where contentious views can be openly discussed.”

The letter, published in The Telegraph on Wednesday, said the academics condemn the student union’s decision to sever ties with the Oxford Union after it refused to withdraw an invitation asking Stock to speak.

Now Williams, one of the university’s leading members, has spoken out about the row in an attempt to preserve free speech.

Free Speech ‘Alive’

In a letter published in the Telegraph on Friday, Williams said the university does not support the deplatforming of individuals.

“We do not allow the no-platforming of any lawful speech but also support the right of students, staff, and societies to protest and challenge speakers at events, as long as they do so within the law and our policies,” he wrote.

“Students should be free to decide whether to join a society or club. 

“While we understand there are concerns held by the Student Union about the Oxford Union, the university is actively encouraging the two organisations to discuss the issues.”

Williams also clarified that Oxford Union, a debating society independent of the university, had not been banned from attending the freshers’ fair.

Oxford University’s Student Union said it would ban the debating society, made up mostly of members from the institution’s student body, from its freshers’ fair, accusing it of having a “toxic culture of bullying and harassment.”

That position has now been reversed after the university reminded student union trustees of its free speech policy. 

The student union had said its actions were not related to Stock’s appearance.

Williams added: “The university and its colleges host hundreds of events each term and we will continue to invite a wide range of speakers. Despite what some may have been led to believe, freedom of speech and expression is alive and well at Oxford.”

Professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, Kathleen Stock, poses with her medal after being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to higher education a investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London, on July 14, 2022. Victoria Jones/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Protest Planned

Stock, who quit her job as a lecturer at the University of Sussex in 2021 after being targeted by activists over her views on gender identity, said she still plans to take part in the event.

The academic thanked fellow scholars for their support, writing on Twitter: “Grateful to the Oxford faculty who signed an open letter standing up for the Union’s right to invite me, and have others hear me speak.”

Stock told The Telegraph that it was “heartening” to see the academics’ commitment to “standing up in public against authoritarian tendencies.”

She is due to give her talk at Oxford Union on May 30, with a protest planned by students opposing her invite.

The Oxford Union, which describes itself as the “last bastion of free speech,” said students will be able to “challenge” Stock at the event.

In a statement issued last month, the Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society called for Stock’s invitation to speak to be rescinded as it claimed she was “transphobic and trans-exclusionary.”

It also accused Oxford Union of “disregarding” the welfare of the society’s members under the guise of free speech.

Responding on Twitter at the time, Stock said the society’s statement contained “several falsehoods,” was “probably defamatory” and made it look “utterly ridiculous.”

A coalition of Oxford organisations and activists will hold a Trans+ Pride event in the city centre on May 30, which will include a rally and march which will culminate outside the Oxford Union where Stock is due to speak.