The Australian Catholic University will reimburse attenders of a graduation ceremony where Joe de Bruyn sparked a walkout with a speech denouncing abortion and same-sex marriage, as the university also revealed it had urged the former union chief to reconsider his remarks before he delivered them.
De Bruyn’s address, delivered on Monday evening, prompted major backlash after he compared abortion to the “human toll of world war two” and alleged same-sex marriage went against “every society on earth”.
The vice-chancellor of the ACU, Prof Zlatko Skrbis, wrote to staff on Tuesday afternoon confirming the university was aware of the contents of the address ahead of time and had allowed the speech to go ahead despite “strongly encouraging” De Bruyn to reconsider his remarks.
He said staff would be offered face-to-face individual therapy and group counselling sessions at its Melbourne campus on Wednesday, noting the “hurt and discomfort” felt by the speech.
In a statement, the ACU confirmed students would also be issued a full refund of their graduation ceremony fees, to be processed automatically in the coming days, in recognition of the fact it was an “unsatisfactory experience for many who attended”.
“The university was aware that Mr De Bruyn planned to speak about a number of polarising issues in his occasional address and asked him to consider a speech that was better aligned to the occasion and more directly celebrated the achievements of our students,” they said.
“We are deeply disappointed that the speech was not more befitting of a graduation ceremony. We do not censor our speakers but recognise that the content of Mr De Bruyn’s address caused distress and offence to many in the audience.”
Skrbis said in his email an honorary degree was conferred on De Bruyn in “recognition of his dedication to the rights of workers, educational advancement, and improving social welfare”, adding they did “strongly encourage” him to reconsider his speech ahead of time.
“I understand this may have affected you personally and we deeply regret any distress this has caused to our community,” he wrote.
Skrbis said the university was “not in the business of censoring occasional addresses or dictating content to our guest speakers”, which would be “completely at odds” with its values of freedom of expression and academic thought.
“However, we did strongly encourage Mr De Bruyn to reconsider his speech through the lens of the graduating students’ achievements, hopes and aspirations,” he said.
De Bruyn told Guardian Australia ACU advised him there would be a “diverse audience” for his speech when he provided it in advance and suggested it might be “wise to make some changes”.
But he said they didn’t specify what issues should be amended, and noted it had been left at his discretion.
“Here I am, a Catholic layman being offered by ACU an award for my services to the Catholic church,” he said.
“If I can’t talk about issues that have confronted me in my professional life that I tried to deal with consistent with my Catholic beliefs, then what am I getting an award for? I thought it was fair and sensible.”
A coalition of student bodies and LGBTIQ+ staff at the ACU questioned why De Bruyn was able to deliver his “harmful address” when they had been informed by staff that counselling was organised ahead of De Bruyn’s speech.
In a joint statement, the St Patrick’s Student Association, ACU National Student Association, the Melbourne LGBTIQ+ Society and the ACU LGBTIQ+ Staff Ally Network said the ACU Senate’s decision to afford De Bruyn a platform to voice his views on reproductive and LGBTIQ+ rights saw the ceremony become a “harmful space”.
“De Bruyn’s views were on the public record prior to this ceremony and it could be anticipated that they would cause distress for students and staff,” their statement read.
“We are particularly concerned by reports from staff that ACU counselling staff were organised ahead of time to be available following the ceremony to support students and staff.
“We therefore call on the ACU senate and executive to explain why de Bruyn was permitted to deliver an address that was expected to result in students and staff requiring support from counsellors.”
The NTEU’s ACU branch condemned the awarding of an honorary doctorate to De Bruyn, labelling it a “disturbing trend” 12 months after management instructed some staff to remove rainbow flags from the library.
The issue was eventually reversed, with the vice-chancellor expressing “regret” for the hurt and distress it had caused.
“[De Bruyn’s] speech attacking reproductive and LGBTIQ+ rights turned what should have been a celebration into a hurtful event for staff and students,” the branch said.
“This follows a disturbing trend after … staff being instructed by management to remove rainbow flags from their workplaces last year.”
