Interview with another member of CUSW - “they carved TERF into my door at Cambridge”

Fear. There have always been women who side with their oppressors and police other women on their behalf. And there have always been brave women who stand up to them.

In the Times today:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/23972190-f438-414e-b408-fe19689e75a7?shareToken=964c88f34cebead0a5cb1f0dec46a633

Good article in the Critic

https://thecritic.co.uk/the-dark-reality-of-cancel-culture-at-cambridge/

Thea was a “bigot” (a go-to word for some at Christ’s, it would seem — and one that invites an obvious question about projection)

Ends with suggestions for actions the Vice-chancellor could take

If Professor Prentice wants to know how bad the problem is becoming, she should announce that the fourth topic in her series will be a debate on “the importance of women’s sex-based rights” — a “difficult issue” that, curiously, she has so far avoided – and take the show on the road, visiting each of her thirty-one colleges.

Each night, hurried by a security detail past masked protesters hoping to shut the event down, she could read the room: the aggressive body language, hostile gestures, sullen stares, staged walkouts, hyperventilated denunciations, the repeated calls for Cambridge’s “bigoted” Vice-Chancellor to resign for “debating trans lives”. At Christ’s, she could even read the slur carved into Thea’s door.

There are certainly academics at Cambridge who specialise in and I imagine lecture on queer theory.

Almost literally a witch-hunt; Gender ideology has hallmarks of a fundamentalist religion, with 'bigot' being the new 'witch'. There will be no reasoning with these people.

"Be kind" said to a girl often means "Hold still".

Thank you for your very cogent and thoughtful analysis. It makes perfect, if depressing, sense. It was different in my day when we weren’t allowed to get away with any sloppy thinking.

The colleges could assess students willingness to engage in critical thoughts through admissions... usually that's one value.

If I was in charge of a college and this happened I'd host one of the authors and make it compulsory attendance! Lol.

Possibly some alumni might put pressure on the college to tackle it. They rely on donations, even more so the ex womens colleges.

I agree. But 'thinking skills' are not transferable anyway. Someone who can think critically about Anglo-Saxon or medieval history can't necessarily (or probably) apply those same skills to e.g. gender ideology (or anything else!) because they don't map across. Which is why a knowledge rich curriculum in schools is vital, so that young people have the tools (knowledge of facts e.g. sex isn't a spectrum and DSDs don't 'prove' it is) to apply to arguments and ideas they meet later.

Right, yes, because it’s the TERFS who are hateful and seek to harm others…..

'Be kind' is not kind. It's idiot compassion, which hinders and hurts other people, notably women.

@DrBlackbird It’s all about attracting enough students to remain financially viable.

This can give rise to pressure to give every student pass grades too. I have a relative who is an engineering prof at a uni that recruits rather than selects students, and he says he is 'encouraged' to pass (international) students who would have failed under the old regime. He says that he would be very nervous about crossing any bridge that they had built.

I fear you have an old fashioned view of academia. One that did exist 15 to 20 years ago.

However, it’s changed. The impact of the Brown Report, students paying tuition fees and the commodification of HE (encouraged by both Labour and Tory) has gradually transformed our students into paying customers. From being a public good to a private service. Leads to quite circular thinking. If the individual is paying for a degree, a job must be the end result a la Sunak.

Then, the increasing dependence on international students alongside the massive rise in international student fees means that only the wealthiest families can afford to pay for UK university. This too changes criticality. I self censor now and am v cautious about appearing to criticise any particular government or even any global firm.

The rise of commodification of HE has also led to the rise of professional services in universities. Faculty are felt to be too removed from students to understand what they need/want. The aim is to smooth their educational path and make life convenient. It’s all about attracting enough students to remain financially viable. Plus, general consensus is the student voice is always right.

Add in generative AI and the drop in critical thinking - for everyone - is evident and growing. There are some students who genuinely want to learn and appreciate criticality but for many, their education is a transactional process. I don’t blame them, this is how they’ve been taught to think about their learning.

Most Cambridge students aren't studying gender, or if it does come up it's only in passing. You can teach thinking skills in maths or Anglo-Saxon or history of art or whatever it is, but it's entirely down to the students whether they chose to apply these skills to the rest of their lives.

I was a pro-choice student in the 70s. I went along to a Life meeting to see what they were doing. No harassment, no aggression. I also discussed my views with others and demonstrated in public. Again, there might be discussion or disagreement but not harassment.

CUWS has proved very popular among both current students and alumni. I hope (I’m sure) this helps

Why are students no longer taught to question all beliefs including their own? What the f* are the academics playing at? They are not worthy of the name academic if they can’t teach basic thinking skills.

Kicked out?

Brave woman. It really is regressive seeing these people react to women.

There’s a current Cambridge student who has a tiktok account where he stops random students and asks them about their course and life at Cambridge. He did one recently where some of the comments were a bit non complimentary about the interviewee being a nerd. The tiktoker was called before the dean and accused of cyber bullying.

i would hope these students have also been up before their college Dean because what they’ve done sounds worse!

I was a member of Life (anti-abortion) at a red-brick university in the '80s. We were allowed to exist as a group, give talks and put up posters. We had some posters removed or defaced and certainly had a few heated exchanges with other women, but I never experienced anything remotely like what the TRAs inflict on GC students nowadays.
Why have some women become so nasty, petulant and unwilling or unable to debate with civility?

@moto748e I gather the college did move her to another room but at Cambridge you can't really hide what room you're in anyway. Your name is painted at the bottom of your staircase.

And the university does nothing to support them? Just find her another room. Great. Isn't it about time someone stood and said that bollix like this is not acceptable in British universities? That'd be our Bridget's purview, wouldn't it?.

Until I got to the part of the article about her being sexually assaulted, I forgot how young Thea and her fellow CUSW students actually are. To be 19, and afraid - for good reason! - and still to stand up against such hatred.

Brava, Thea, Brava! 👏 💪 👏

I hope they have the courage not to be intimidated into giving up - it doesn't look as if they will but it must be very hard when they come in for such nastiness. There are probably many students who secretly agree with them but aren't quite brave enough yet to openly support them. I hope others gather their courage soon and join them, they must be feel pretty isolated at the moment. I've joined as an associate to show support but that doesn't require any bravery, I don't have to live with what they're experiencing.