‘You crusty old man’ – woke students’ jibe at free speech lecturer

...And they accused HIM of being offensive at uni!

STUDENTS branded an academic accused of racism a ‘crusty old man’ as they boasted of the damage they had done to his career.

Social anthropologist Dr Neil Thin is under investigation following a student backlash over his allegedly ‘problematic’ conduct.

Edinburgh University has been accused of acting like Communist dictator Chairman Mao by ‘publicly shaming’ Dr Thin, who has stepped back from teaching and is under investigation.

He was the victim of a coordinated online attack led by students. Now the Mail has discovered some of his critics ridiculing his ordeal in a social media chat group. The messages will fuel concern at the motives of ‘woke’ students.

Dr Thin, 60, criticised a university move last year to rename David Hume Tower, which commemorates the famous philosopher now accused of slavery links.

The veteran lecturer also condemned a controversial 2019 antiracism event called Resisting Whiteness, in which white students at Edinburgh were initially banned from asking questions.

Writing in the chat group, one student said: ‘No matter what grades we get at the end of uni, just know we succeeded in being brandad [sic] puritan bullies by a crusty old man.’ The student said it was a ‘true achievement’.

The phrase ‘puritan bullies’ came from the headline of a newspaper story in which Dr Thin said his critics were ‘puritan’ and part of a ‘censorious mob’. Another wrote: ‘Neil vs. 70 politically empowered and educated anthropology students... who will win?’

The student asks what ‘game’ Dr Thin thinks he is playing by challenging the claims against him.

Meanwhile, a colleague of Dr Thin, who did not want to be named, said: ‘The increasing shift by [the university’s principal] Peter Mathieson towards incorporating “woke” ideas into university policies and the clampdown on free speech are very frightening.

‘He seems to have bought lock, stock and barrel into the notion that proponents of woke ideas cannot and should not be questioned and that if anyone does, they must be a bigot.’

Last week, Toby Young of the Free Speech Union, which is supporting Dr Thin, suggested the university had broken its own rules on freedom of expression.

He said: ‘For the university to publicly shame Dr Thin because he dared to speak out against the excesses of a powerful hard-Left cabal is reminiscent of the “struggle sessions” that distinguished scholars were subjected to during China’s Cultural Revolution. Struggle sessions were a form of public humiliation and torture used by the Chinese Communist Party… in the brutal Mao era.’

Dr Thin is the subject of two complaints from students over his allegedly ‘problematic’ views and a barrage of anonymous accusations on social media. He has said the ‘effect of this has been catastrophic on me and my family’.

Last week, the university said Dr Thin ‘has not been suspended from his duties… but we understand he has decided of his own accord to step back temporarily’.

Dr Thin said he did not want to comment during the inquiry.

University ’acting like Chairman Mao over free speech’