Not all Durham students want to silence Rod Liddle

A week on from Rod Liddle’s appearance at a dinner at Durham university’s South College, the fallout continues. Yesterday, my fellow students gathered outside the college, brandishing signs saying ’No hate’ and ‘Principal without principles’. Their target? The college’s head, Tim Luckhurst, who made the fateful decision to invite Liddle to speak and then to call students who walked out ‘pathetic’. Now students are calling for Luckhurst to apologise – and resign. 

As a Durham finalist, I’m fed up. The university has released more communication about Rod-gate in the last three days than I have received all term about what is going to happen with my exams. My college, my department and the university governing body have all sent me emails telling me about the appropriate welfare resources to turn to if I have been unduly affected by hearing about comments that I might disagree with. The university has been quick to affirm that it ‘categorically does not agree with views expressed by the external speaker at this occasion’.