Oxford Union faces funding cut for hosting gender-critical speaker
‘The decision, made by a minority of the student body, is an attempt to disassociate the society’
THE University of Oxford’s debating society faces being financially damaged by the student union amid a row over a talk by the gender-critical feminist Kathleen Stock.
The Oxford Union, which is known as a training ground for future British prime ministers, is likely to be blocked from having a stall at next year’s freshers’ fair following a vote by the student union. The fair has typically been a significant source of membership sign-ups for the debating society, which receives more than half of its income from membership fees.
The move by Oxford Student Union (Oxford SU) comes amid a growing student backlash against the 200-year-old debating society for inviting Ms Stock to speak later this month.
The university’s LGBTQ+ society has urged the Oxford Union to rescind its “misguided” invitation to the academic because of her gender-critical views. A protest is planned for the day of the talk.
Oxford SU passed a motion to cut financial ties with the debating society this week.
A spokesman for Oxford SU said it would mean that the society would not be able to have a stand at the freshers’ fair. The SU claimed that the society has a “toxic culture of bullying and harassment”. It also said the “high cost” of the Oxford Union membership, set at a minimum of £178.50 for a lifetime membership, is “antithetical to the SU’S commitment to access”.
Matthew Dick, the Oxford Union’s president, said: “The decision, made by a minority of the student body, is worrying in its attempt to completely disassociate the university from the Union.
“I hoped, and still do hope, that Prof Stock’s visit would facilitate an opportunity for our members to respectfully question and challenge her views, which I have made efforts to achieve through the agreed upon format. I will not abandon the Union’s founding principles in face of external pressure.
“Bullying and harassment have no place in our society and are not in any way inherent to our values.”
The Oxford Union, which describes itself as the “last bastion of free speech”, also said in a statement that many of the claims made in the SU’S motion are “not factually accurate”.
A Union spokesman said that the society had “existed for far longer than the SU and are confident that incoming students will want to become members of the Union and engage with the programme of brilliant events we are planning for the upcoming year”.
Spencer Shia, a university student and former member of the Oxford Union committee, said: “I don’t agree with the SU’S decision. By not letting the Union advertise at places like the fair, you are effectively preventing them from sending out information, which I feel is really bad for free speech.”