Campaign of bullying and intimidation at Sussex University vs Professor Kathleen Stock

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Absolute disgrace. Posters on campus calling for her to be sacked. Academic colleague tweeting that he agrees with this. twitter.com/FrancescoFv37/status/1445727937660076032?t=-Di7mRf5sznFvvzww8UI2w&s=19 I saw a tweet saying there was a burning in effigy. Can't confirm this but nothing would surprise me now. Time for Sussex staff, students and alumni to put their heads over the parapet.

MargaritaPie would you like to comment on the following:

From the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission:

Kishwer Falkner, Baroness of Margravine, 66, wrote to The Times to denounce the bullying behaviour of a minority of students who disagree with someone's entirely lawful expert views

Note the bit I've highlighted especially the words entirely lawful.

Also, it seems your posted screenshot earlier in this thread purporting to be from Sussex Police does not appear to be entirely accurate:

Meanwhile Sussex Police have said they are investigating, with a spokesman saying: On Wednesday, we received a report of harassment of an employee at the University of Sussex and we are investigating

We take all reports of harassment seriously and will seek to investigate and to support victims. This is currently being investigated as a report of harassment, including by use of posters and online. If evidence of hate crime, or any other offence, does emerge during the investigation then that will be followed up and assessed at the time

Note: currently being investigated

And then there is this from the Vice Chancellor:

Professor Tickell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It's absolutely clear that all of our staff have an untrammelled right to say and believe what they think. So we take it very seriously if people try to prevent that right from being exercised.

I have to say I am really concerned that we have masked protesters, putting up posters, calling for the sacking of somebody for exercising her rights to articulate her views, and it is a matter of real concern

Presenter Justin Webb then asked him: If they are students, will you get rid of them?'

And Professor Tickell replied: If they're students, and we can identify them, we will certainly take investigations and disciplinary action, as appropriate under our regulations, yes.

Note: take investigations and disciplinary action

Seems fair, reasonable and correct to me - how about you Margarita?

From Jaysmith71's link above, Lucy Evans' first three pledges are:

- Work to create a weekly networking and social event
- allowing cis and trans women, femme-aligned students and other students who experience misogyny to be able to share experiences, in a safe and welcoming environment.
- Working with the LGBTQ+ officer to ensure inclusion and protection of trans women within the university

So her No 1 priority is to create a social event. The Nos 2 and 3 involve centering male people.

I just want to cry for these young women who have no idea what life is going to throw at them, knowing that they are likely to look back in 40 years and see that no matter how they tried, male people still treated them like shit purely because they are female

Quick question. Because discussion with a friend.

Kathleen Stock is a lesbian. Married?

Not against gay marriage or in any way against gay relationships?

My friend had heard she was homophobic and anti any gay touching.

I know this is bollocks but can others confirm as I need the spine stiffening from on here. Thanks.

I can't find anything to say if she's married but in this article (extracts taken from her book 'Material Girls'), she defines herself as a lesbian, talks about lesbians fancying and having sexual relationships with other women and argues that homosexuality is (contrary to what Stonewall insist) same sex attraction. So I would find what your friend says unlikely.

quillette.com/2021/05/18/lesbians-arent-attracted-to-a-female-gender-identity-were-attracted-to-women/

'My friend had heard she was homophobic and anti gay touching'

This sounds a bizarre thing to say about a lesbian woman who celebrated her marriage recently?

Maybe ask your friend what the details are.

“Kathleen Stock is a lesbian. Married?”

Very definitely a lesbian and tweeted about getting married in the last year or two.

Your friend is talking pretty slanderous bollocks @Cismyfatarse

And I don’t see what Professor Stock’s personal life has to do with her scholarly standing, or her professional work as a university teacher and researcher.

Thanks all. It was a private conversation with a highly intelligent woman who is living in a weird filter bubble.

I will attempt to bring her round. This is important as she is a very good friend, and she is influential.

I got a very nice reply to the email I sent to Dr Stock. So, if you are so inclined, please do email her to show your support for her.

Agree with Kayce and not sure that gossiping about her private life adds anything useful to this.

I think it’s useful to be aware of what completely bonkers things some of these people believe, though.

@AlfonsoTheDinosaur I've just emailed too. The articles I've read over the last couple of days indicate she's facing an onslaught of threats and unpleasantness. I hope any supportive emails she gets will help her feel less alone.

Just bought myself a new book on my Kindle as an early birthday present...

Not sure this has been shared yet, police urge Prof Stock to get bodyguards:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3a39938e-2926-11ec-8027-e80d42947f8f?shareToken=a182081271a991964926e849072d9e8d

@MargaritaPie

I happened to see some of the abuse Lucy was receiving from "Gender Criticals" before she made her Twitter private, and yes a lot of it was IMO abuse and harassment.

Was some of that ‘abuse and harassment’ pointing out that she should be ashamed to be in the role of women’s officer and supporting the abuse and harassment a senior published female lecturer is receiving?

Or was someone actively contacting the university and campaigning to call for her removal from that role for expressing her opinion?

I certainly saw a great deal of disappointment being expressed that any women’s officer would be supporting the activities of these activists.

Maybe that is what constitutes as abuse in adult’s minds these days.

That piece in The Times is awful, poor Prof Stock sounds in a terrible place. I dont know how she has withstood the pressure this long.

As for that woke bro student - facts dont care about your feelings which you will learn as you grow up

I don’t care if she’s a complete bellend in her personal life. I don’t know her. I can’t know either way. But she’s been stating fact and truth and legally acceptable nonviolent opinions at work and just for that misogynist authoritarians are trying to get her sacked and have been trying to intimidate and silence her personally for speaking publicly for years now. None of the authorities with responsibilities to support her in doing this, until very recently have done anything to support her.

That’s a completely outrageous situation if you care at all about academic freedom, which is the basis of academic work. Academia is a key place for research, forming ideas and gathering information to build up knowledge. It’s a key place for teaching young people how to evaluate ideas and the knowledge that’s been evidenced. As the philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote:
"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."

I don’t need to know how great a person Prof Stock is or not (she sent me a very nice reply as well, I’d assume she is a decent person in the absence of any other evidence..) but ultimately I could know her to be a a completely obnoxious person and she would still deserve public support.

Even if she (or another academic in her shoes) were not kind or not nice, the public should still demand that the institutions that should be defending free expression, free thought and speech do their bloody jobs properly. They have to ensure that all academics can do their jobs properly and can speak and publish freely on evidenced facts and offer legal non-violent opinions without being threatened, or the whole of academia is fucked.

The misogynistic problem here (misogyny-led failure of institutions to deal with misogyny-led harassment and intimidation of academic staff) is critical to solve, whether the woman who brought it to light or not is a nice person or not.

When the Women's Officer is advised by the police not to go to her workplace in person, and has a marker put on her phone to get priority police attendance if she dials 999, then I will feel the same horror and sympathy for her as I currently have for Professor Stock.

@TurquoiseBaubles

From Jaysmith71's link above, Lucy Evans' first three pledges are:

- Work to create a weekly networking and social event
- allowing cis and trans women, femme-aligned students and other students who experience misogyny to be able to share experiences, in a safe and welcoming environment.
- Working with the LGBTQ+ officer to ensure inclusion and protection of trans women within the university

So her No 1 priority is to create a social event. The Nos 2 and 3 involve centering male people.

I just want to cry for these young women who have no idea what life is going to throw at them, knowing that they are likely to look back in 40 years and see that no matter how they tried, male people still treated them like shit purely because they are female

Dismaying. So, Lucy's priorities are men, not women. But she (sorry if I'm misgendering her) doesn't seem to be interested in the LGBTQ Students Officer position which would seem to be a better fit for her interests as per the website:

"LGBTQ Students Officer

No nominations"

Haven’t RTFT but is there anywhere women can share their support for Kathleen Stock?

I'm a long time lurker who has found this corner of the internet eye-opening, and I'm off to buy Material Girls. It gets some very good reviews on the usual book selling sites, but if anyone who has already read it and wishes to voice appreciation, then I'm sure further positive reviews (especially by verified purchasers) would not go amiss. I know that doesn't directly address the issue of how she is being bullied, but at least it is some small counterbalance to the negativity.

[quote Igneococcus]Not sure this has been shared yet, police urge Prof Stock to get bodyguards:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3a39938e-2926-11ec-8027-e80d42947f8f?shareToken=a182081271a991964926e849072d9e8d[/quote]
WTAF, so they're not going to investigate find the people responsible or even bother to protect her, she has to stay away from her place of work and pay for security herself. Fucking joke, she should get the most expensive security money can buy and stick it on expenses, let the fucking useless university pay.

Yeah.

Two massive boucers in dark suits and darker glasses, shoving everyone off the path as she walks, like Madonna off for a jog in Hyde Park.

There goes the academic philosopher.

I’ve RTFT now and have emailed the VC and Stock.

I’m really confused. That Times article is chilling I feel so sorry for her. Is there a legal problem here (no law to cover these threats) or a police problem (inertia to enforce the law)? Can’t the university ban the perps from campus and warn any other potential harrassers that they will be kicked out? Don’t the members of the university whether students or staff have to sign some kind of code of conduct? And if there aren’t any grown ups running Sussex University, where is the regulators of higher education and the government in all this? If local processes fail there have to be national minimum requirements surely?