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Academic Freedom

Leicester UCU in 2 – Feb 25

Published: 26th February, 2021

In this week’s 2-minute summary, we reflect on some of what University of Leicester executives chose to share with staff in their Question-and-Answer session on February 24. You can watch the recording of that event here and/or you can read our live Twitter commentary here. Our conclusion: Nishan Canagarajah and his executive board are seeking…

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Letter to Council

Published: 24th February, 2021

Letter sent to all members of University Council, 23 February 2021. A very similar letter was sent to all members of University Senate. Both are available as PDFs to download. Dear Member of Council I am writing to you about University of Leicester’s present problems. I am sure that the President and Vice-Chancellor has shared…

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German scientists’ ‘dismay’ at VC’s plans for Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour

Published: 23rd February, 2021

Open letter to Professor Nishan Canagarajah, President and Vice-Chancellor,University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.vc@leicester.ac.uk We write to express our profound dismay at the decision to close the “Mechanisms of Animal Behaviour” and “Systems Neuroscience” Groups in the Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour at the University of Leicester. This decision will severely harm the University’s ability…

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I’m not at risk, but I’m affected

Published: 22nd February, 2021

The scope of the injustices taking place at the University of Leicester right now are staggering. For 145 colleagues, the threat of losing their livelihoods in what is still very much the middle of a global crisis, with no end in sight, is unconscionable as a starting point, but when faced with incompetently written and…

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I’m angry. My anger is off the scale. This is why.

Published: 18th February, 2021

I’m angry. Angry and tired. I am angry that the University Executive Board wants to make 145 of my colleagues redundant. All redundancies make me angry – and in over thirty years working in British higher education, I have been angry at too many proposed redundancies. This time, though, my anger is off the scale….

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The green and the unseen

Published: 2nd May, 2018

The scandal about the Home Office’s mistreatment of the Windrush generation has dominated the news in the past week. Students at UK universities have also been victims of the ‘hostile environment’ as this story in the Financial Times makes clear, and British universities have themselves become ‘enforcers‘. The University of Leicester is complicit. At the…

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Freedom or Reputation?

Published: 9th June, 2017

Academic freedom is under attack – in Turkey, in Hungary and elsewhere. The University of Leicester’s president and vice-chancellor, in a recent article for Times Higher (How should universities respond when academic freedom is under threat? (13 May), quotes with approval European University Association president Rolf Tarrach: ‘university autonomy and academic freedom are crucial for…

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President Trump, the ‘Muslim ban’ and University of Leicester

Published: 2nd February, 2017

Letter sent to President and Vice-Chancellor Paul Boyle on 2 February 2017. No reply of substance was received. Dear Professor Boyle We are alarmed by the news currently emanating from the United States and we are sure you are too. In particular we note President Trump’s recent executive order to prevent anyone from one of…

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