U.K. ACADEMIC STEPS DOWN FROM STANFORD POST

Niall Ferguson, a British historian, has left his role with a Stanford University free speech initiative after leaked emails showed him suggesting “opposition research” be carried out on a left-wing student.

Ferguson resigned from a leadership position on the Cardinal Conversations program, which invites guest speakers from across the political spectrum to give talks.

The academic said he had been “deeply concerned” by the reaction on campus against a talk by Charles Murray, the social scientist, who spoke on Feb. 22. Ferguson said he acted because he believed Cardinal Conversations was being taken over by “elements fundamentally hostile to free speech”.

In a statement he said: “I very much regret the publication of these emails. I also regret having written them.

“I was deeply concerned by the events that took place on Feb. 22. It seemed to me that the student steering committee was in danger of being taken over by elements that were fundamentally hostile to free speech.