England’s university regulator has been accused of “perpetuating the culture wars” after fining the University of Sussex a record £585,000 at the conclusion of an investigation into freedom of speech on campus.
It marks the end of a three-and-a-half year investigation into the university’s handling of the case of Kathleen Stock, a philosophy professor who resigned after being targeted by protests over her views on gender identification and transgender rights.
In a ruling that prompted a furious reaction from the University of Sussex and has implications for the wider sector, the Office for Students (OfS) found the institution’s governing documents “failed to uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom”. It also identified failings in the university’s management and governance processes.
The OfS criticism was directed at the university’s trans and non-binary equality policy statement, which required course materials to “positively represent trans people” and said “transphobic propaganda … will not be tolerated”. The regulator said it had “a chilling effect”, which could result in staff and students self-censoring.
“An example of this chilling effect materialising in practice is the experience of Prof Stock while at the university. Prof Stock said that she became more cautious in her expression of gender critical views as a result of the policy,” the OfS said.
“There were some views she did not feel able to express, and therefore teach, despite those views being lawful. Other staff and students may have felt similarly unable to express these, or other, lawful views, and not speak about or express lawful views.”
Sussex complained the fine was more than 15 times bigger than any other sanction the OfS had previously imposed and promised to challenge the ruling in the courts. “The way the OfS has conducted this investigation has been completely unacceptable, its findings are egregious and concocted, and the fine that is being imposed on Sussex is wholly disproportionate,” said the university’s vice-chancellor, Prof Sasha Roseneil.
“After three and a half years of trawling thousands of pages of paperwork, whilst never interviewing anyone employed by the university, the behaviour of the OfS sets a dangerous precedent and constitutes serious regulatory overreach in service of a politically motivated inquiry.”
Stock resigned from the university in 2021 over what she called “a medieval experience” of campus ostracism and protests, but she praised the university leadership’s approach latterly as “admirable and decent”.
Sussex said the OfS’s findings meant it was now all but impossible for universities to prevent abuse, harassment or bullying on campuses.
“Universities must be able to have policies and expectations of behaviour that support respectful communication and enable us to manage cultural tensions on campus,” said Roseneil. “It cannot be that we are only able to expect people to obey the law and that poor behaviour can only be challenged in the courts.
“Under this ruling, we believe that universities would not be permitted to expect their staff and students to treat each other with civility and respect. The OfS is effectively decreeing libertarian free speech absolutism as the fundamental principle for UK universities. In our view, the OfS is perpetuating the culture wars.”
Arif Ahmed, the director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the OfS, said: “These are significant and serious breaches of the OfS’s requirements. Substantial monetary penalties are appropriate for the scale of wrongdoing we have found. However, we have significantly discounted the monetary penalties we initially calculated on this occasion to reflect that this is the first case of its type we have dealt with.
“We hope that publishing our findings in this case is helpful to all universities and colleges as they consider their own compliance with their freedom of speech duties, and ensure they have proper decision-making processes in place.”
The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “Free speech and academic freedom are non-negotiables in our universities, and I have been clear that where those principles are not upheld, robust action will be taken.
“If you go to university you must be prepared to have your views challenged, hear contrary opinions and be exposed to uncomfortable truths. We are giving the OfS stronger powers on freedom of speech so students and academics are not muzzled by the chilling effect demonstrated in this case.”
