The argument often used when extreme or intolerant speakers appear on campus is that it exposes their views to challenge from students, but in our experience this doesn’t happen often enough. Here, Gino Ragnoli, Treasurer of the University of Leicester Atheist, Humanist and Secular Society, details his attempts to do so when Hamza Tzortzis appeared […]
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Discover Islam Week and IERA
In the years Student Rights has been logging on-campus events featuring speakers with a history of extreme or intolerant views, February has stood out as one of the busiest months. This appears to be in part due to the popularity of ‘Discover Islam Weeks’ during this month; the sheer number of events providing such speakers […]
Continue readingSOAS speakers claim undermined by event history
Last week, following a government press release which ‘named and shamed’ several universities for hosting extreme speakers, one of the institutions identified hit back at these claims. Laura Gibbs, registrar of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), argued in a statement that the college had “not hosted any extremist speakers in the last […]
Continue readingMaryam Namazie barred from Warwick University (Update: Warwick SU reverse decision)
UPDATE 28/09/2015: Following widespread coverage of this story the Student Union at the University of Warwick has changed its decision and allowed Namazie to speak. In a statement released over the weekend, the union has said that: “Warwick SU has a process for assessing any potential risks or legal issues associated with any external speaker, […]
Continue readingIslamic Society ‘Annual Dinner’ features extreme speakers (Update: Event details changed)
UPDATE: Following the publication of this article, the title of this event was changed to the first Annual Dinner of the ‘Al-Kawni Trust’. This organisation, alleged to be a front set up by members of City Islamic Society in 2010, has frequently promoted City events in the past. The City University Islamic Society has denied […]
Continue readingIERA Dawah training and its effects
This Saturday, a ‘Call of Duty’ Dawah training course taught by Subboor Ahmed, a member of the Islamic Education and Research Academy (IERA), will take place at the group’s London offices. Held in association with the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), this event was also promoted by London Metropolitan University Islamic Society. It will […]
Continue readingUthman Lateef to speak at University of Birmingham
With the Spring Term barely underway after Christmas at many universities around the country, Student Rights has already logged a number of events featuring extreme or intolerant speakers. As well as tonight’s event at SOAS, this week has seen Wasim Kempson, who has publicly expressed support for a convicted terrorist, invited to speak at the […]
Continue readingSWP motion shows importance of consistency
It has been reported this week that the Edinburgh University Student’s Association (EUSA) has withheld a motion to ban the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from holding events and advertising on campus after an SWP legal threat. Sponsored by the university’s Feminist Society, the motion also intends to prevent the spread of the SWP by refusing […]
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