Universities are at risk of becoming ¡°homogeneous zones of head-nodding¡± as students¡¯ unions adopt ¡°safe space¡± and ¡°no-platform¡± policies that ban certain speakers.

Such was the argument of Tom Bailey, a recent graduate of University College London, speaking in a debate titled ¡°Cotton-wool Campus?¡± at the Battle of Ideas festival ¨C where Times Higher Education was media partner ¨C on 18 October. Such initiatives, he continued, addressed issues of ¡°discomfort, not safety, which people don¡¯t need to be protected from¡± and reflected ¡°a more inward-looking trend in student politics¡±.

Columnist and blogger Harriet Williamson responded that ¡°complete freedom to say and do as we like, individually, can prevent others from feeling safe¡±. Addressing the claim that ¡°young women are now more ¡®resilient¡¯ and do not need to be ¡®protected¡¯ from the [laddish] behaviour of male students¡±, she asked: ¡°Do we tell people of colour that they should be ¡®resilient¡¯ enough to deal with racist jokes and people making monkey noises?¡±

For Ellamay Russell, a postgraduate student at the University of Sussex, ¡°no-platforming¡± was based on the premise that ¡°you can have a debate about racism without a racist on the panel¡± ¨C but that was ¡°not a debate¡± and revealed ¡°a disbelief¡± in students¡¯ ability to make their own decisions.

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Michael Segalov, a communications officer at the University of Sussex Students¡¯ Union, responded that such policies helped to provide balance in an ¡°unequal society¡±. As an extension of legislation against racism and sexism, he said, far from infantilising students, they empowered them.

But Mr Bailey queried how ¡°banning a racist speaker will improve the level of racism in society or the proportion of black professors¡±, while Ms Russell said that she ¡°believed in the same risks for everybody and therefore the same opportunities. Making universities safe spaces is patronising and boring.¡±

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A speaker from the floor noted that when trying to organise a debate on Israel/ Palestine, he was told that he had to check with unions and university authorities about which speakers might cause offence. The result was that the event never took place.

matthew.reisz@tesglobal.com