A row over free speech has broken out after a University’s oldest student society was blocked from taking part in this year’s freshers’ fair.
Durham Union Society has been barred from taking part in an events day for the university’s new intake.
The university’s 182-year-old debating society, which includes more than 3,000 current and former students was reportedly denied a space.
The student union said the debating society had failed to show it had improved standards following a string of racism allegations. A spokesperson added the society was independent from the university, meaning it had no formal obligations towards it.
Durham University (file pic)
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Durham Union Society was founded in 1842 as the university’s debating society, similar to those Oxford and Cambridge Unions.
Membership is almost entirely made up of Durham students, although it is run independently from the university and open to staff and local residents.
Much like its Oxford and Cambridge counterparts, the registered charity hosts weekly events and debates that are frequently advertised on the university’s website.
Recent guests to speak at the Union include former Conservative prime ministers Boris Johnson and Baroness May, as well as actors Jeremy Irons and Sir Patrick Stewart and the late actress Maggie Smith.
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Toby Young of the Free Speech UnionGB NewsIn an open letter to Durham University’s vice-chancellor, Prof Karen O’Brien, The Free Speech Union suggested Durham Union Society had been “excluded from the key recruitment event of the academic year”.
Group leader Toby Young said: “As things stand, it is now incumbent on the university to ensure that the situation is rectified.”
In a statement, Durham Union Society said: “The university has a legal obligation to secure freedom of speech on campus and we’re pleased that the pro-vice chancellor accordingly made an alternative space available for us to advertise to new students.
“We are working with the university to secure a permanent resolution to this situation so that the students’ union is not able to obstruct our society in this hostile and capricious way in future years.”
A spokesperson from Durham Student Union told The Telegraph that the debating society had “failed to keep its promise and it is for that reason only that [we] didn’t accept the request from [Durham Union Society] to advertise at our freshers’ fair.”
Durham Student Union said in a statement that it “believes strongly in freedom of speech and has never, and would never, take any action to disadvantage one of its student groups on the basis of lawful beliefs, opinions, policies, or ideas”.
It added: “There are no examples to the contrary. We work closely with Durham University, every day, to ensure that students find and share new thinking and experiences.“We support over 300 student groups, of astonishing cultural, philosophical, political, and religious diversity, who frequently disagree with each other, and with the students’ union
“We love it, and wouldn’t have it any other way….Durham Student Union doesn’t disagree with any of the lawful beliefs, opinions, policies, or ideas of Durham Union Society, which [despite the name] is not a student society at Durham University or Durham Student Union.”