Over the years, Durham University has produced many outstanding students: Sir Harold Evans, Justin Welby, Andrew Strauss, and even the worst 007 George Lazambi. But now angry undergraduates don't seem to be so keen on the old-fashioned ideas of arguing and debating. On Friday night, a good newcomer from Southern College tried to cancel a guest at their Christmas ceremony. This person is very famous to Mr. S: it is The Spectator's own Rod Liddle.
Steerpike has yet to get Rod's description of the incident, but in this early Christmas pantomime, the protagonists have said a lot. According to tradition, the students left before he gave his speech and continued to do so during his five-minute contribution. Most people refused to stand when the guests at the high table left. The offending lines that aroused the anger of Durham’s best talent included the “The Spectator” columnist joking that he was disappointed that he hadn’t seen any sex workers - a recent safety training provided by the university to undergraduates working in the industry. Reference to the dispute.
A person who is afraid of Rhodes has now written a long Twitter post, claiming that the night was a betrayal of Southern College’s motto "Freedom, Equality, and Global Citizenship" because "just a Google search for this person is terrible They claimed that they were “very angry and trembling” at Rhode’s comments on sex and gender issues. The self-proclaimed Durham Working Class Student Association is now requesting an investigation. The local labor association insists that “our university does not owe anything Hate the platform. '
It is commendable that Professor Tim Luckhurst, the principal of the college, disagreed and told him that “at Southern College, we value freedom of speech” and label those who drop out of school as “sad”. . Nevertheless, thanks to Durham's good students, Rod still has a lot of material available for his next column.
Steerpike is the gossip columnist for The Spectator, providing the latest headlines from Westminster and beyond. Send the prompt to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or send a message @MrSteerpike