Last Wednesday, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Eliot Miller, gave a presentation on extremist speakers and the Prevent Duty at the University of Hull. The talk was hosted by the university Secularist, Atheist and Humanist Society (HUSAH), which champions free-thinking, and examined many of the complaints from students about Prevent in an attempt to debunk the […]
Continue readingTag Archives: no platform policy
Student Rights on-campus in Durham and Cambridge
On Thursday 26 January, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, gave a presentation to the Atheist, Secular and Humanist Society (AHS) at Durham University, focusing on challenging extremism and the Prevent Duty. Angelos Sofocleous, President of the Durham AHS, speaking after the event, said it was: “A very insightful and informative talk. It has definitely […]
Continue readingStudent Rights at UCL
On Thursday 1st December, Elliot Miller, National Organiser at Student Rights, gave a workshop on challenging extremism on campuses to around 40 students at University College London (UCL). The hour-long session involved a presentation examining the varied forms of extreme or intolerant speakers and groups invited onto campuses, and a lengthy question and answer session. […]
Continue readingStudent Voice: Let’s have an honest discussion about Prevent
Last month, University of Warwick student, Phoebe Davies-Owen, attended a conference addressing the Prevent duty in universities. Here, she gives her take on the one-sided message being spread by the attendees, and the difficulties she faced when attempting to challenge the claims of the anti-Prevent lobby. All views are her own, and do not necessarily […]
Continue readingMalia Bouattia faces questions over NUS leadership bid
Over 50 representatives from university Jewish Societies have raised serious questions about Malia Bouattia’s candidacy for National Union of Students (NUS) President. In an open letter, these students have called on Bouattia to explain past anti-Zionist statements and questioned her links to the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK), currently no-platformed by the NUS. Bouattia’s […]
Continue readingStudent Rights at the University of Newcastle
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of speaking at the University of Newcastle at an event organised by the Atheist and Secular Humanists Society. It was a great opportunity to discuss extremism and free speech on campus, and to showcase our work. Since starting at Student Rights, I’ve travelled across the country, speaking to students […]
Continue readingStudent Rights at Exeter Debating Society
Last Friday, Student Rights National Organiser Gray Sergeant spoke at the University of Exeter Debating Society on the motion ‘This House Supports No Platform Policies at University’. Here he outlines his opinion on the topic. On being invited to attend this debate, I spoke for the motion despite my increasing frustration with overzealous student unions […]
Continue readingStudent Voice: Macer Gifford speaks at UCL
Student Rights was pleased to report last month that University College London Union (UCLU) had reversed a decision to ban Macer Gifford from speaking on campus. Last night an event with Gifford went ahead, and he was able tell students about his experiences fighting Islamic State in Syria. Here, Kavar Kurda, the Head of UCL […]
Continue readingStudent anger at Haitham Al-Haddad invite (Update: Event cancelled)
UPDATE: Following revelations that the Islamic State militant known as ‘Jihadi John’ may be a former student of the University of Westminster called Mohammed Emwazi, the university announced that the event had been postponed “due to increased sensitivity and security concerns”. A petition calling for the University of Westminster to prevent the extremist cleric Haitham […]
Continue readingHizb ut-Tahrir activist to speak at SOAS
University should be a place for debate, where students can discuss ideas with their right to freedom of expression protected. However, all too often, events are hosted in which there is no such debate; where a panel of speakers with similar views are simply given an unchallenged platform. This can be seen in an event […]
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