‘Suffocated by identity politics and woke activism’
Oxford professor Nigel Biggar joined the discussion on Tuesday, criticising the Oxbridge protesters. Many readers followed suit by arguing how the protests reflected badly on the educational institutions.
Telegraph reader C.T. revealed their child has been deterred from applying for a place at both Cambridge and Oxford due to the involvement in “identity politics” and “woke activism” from both universities – as evidenced by the protests.
They said: “My son is very single minded in his wish to pursue academic excellence but he doesn’t want to go somewhere suffocated by identity politics and woke activism. He now has his eye on top European universities.”
Reader D.J. was not alone in sharing that the protests had encouraged them to cancel ongoing donations to universities they once attended. They said: “Just cancelled my ongoing donation to my old college in Oxford,” as “I don’t want my money going anywhere near these intolerant bigots”.
The protests prompted Richard Fields to reminisce on his time at Cambridge, while also drawing from his own experience as a teacher, to emphasise how far the standard displayed by students has fallen.
He said: “I cannot reconcile the lack of knowledge of these protesters and academics with the students and academics of my time at Cambridge in the early 70s.
“However, in my last few years as a teacher, I was constantly amazed by the paucity of knowledge of most of my students and worse, their lack of a desire for knowledge.”
On the other hand, reader O.T. argued that the students are entitled to their “right to protest and free speech,” believing that they’re simply displaying “democracy in action”.
‘Protests call into question the quality of lecturers and professors’
It emerged on Tuesday that Oxford students protesting against the war had secretly signed up to a demand that millions of Palestinians be allowed to take back their ancestral land in Israel.
Readers were shocked to find out that the university’s head of equality, Vernal Scott, was among those who had signed a letter in support of the demand.