By Matthew Hackett
Vice-Chancellor John Hood has attacked a Government drive to tackle religious extremism on campuses, warning that it could have dangerous consequences for academic freedom.
In his annual Oration speech, Hood called for debate on the Government’s demand that tutors "report" suspicious student activities.
"It is vital that public policy, designed to address the undeniably real security worries about terrorism, does not undermine that very scholarly endeavour which can help to build and propagate knowledge and understanding in society," he told assembled dons.
"There has already been talk, not all of it well thought through it seems to me, about the ‘policing’ of campuses. It is a subject requiring the most careful debate, a debate for which Oxford is, I believe, well qualified. The debate may be difficult, but it is also urgent, as politicians and educators alike have begun to acknowledge."
Hood also urged caution in assuming that University students are being exposed to Islamist extremism. "Well-founded or not, this perception may prove to have profound and challenging implications for academic freedom and for the way it is exercised in the years ahead," he said.
He claimed that an informed understanding of Islam was crucial to prevent academic freedoms being undermined, adding, "The exposure of young people to powerful ideas of all sorts is a fundamental and important part of the educational process."
Professor Anthony Glees, an academic at Brunel University who claimed in April that Oxford and other universities had been infiltrated by Islamic fundamentalists, condemned Dr Hood’s comments.
"I simply couldn’t believe that anyone in his position would have spoken in this way," Glees said. "His remarks were not only ill-informed and frighteningly superficial but more than that, given his position as Vice Chancellor of one of our most prestigious universities, they were utterly irresponsible.
"To urge dons not to keep their eyes and ears open for Islamist extremism on campus is to suggest to them that they have rights in our society which are not enjoyed by any other group, not doctors, not lawyers, none. What makes dons think they are entitled to be different from any other citizen? If they do, it is just one more indication of how far removed they’ve become from the real world."
Usaama al-Azami, President of Oxford University Islamic Society, supported the Vice-Chancellor’s criticisms of government policy. "I think if most people saw or heard something that troubled them, they would contact the people necessary to look into things if they deemed that necessary, and that applies to all citizens," he said.
"Tutors who are looked up to should not be the ones who are especially keeping an eye on their students. That would damage the vital tutor-student relationship that makes Oxford the world-class institution it is."
Al-Azami claimed that government pressure could have potentially negative effects on minority members of the University community. "I think it can amount to the targeting of Muslim students and intimidation. I believe extremism is a very real problem, but it should be dealt with in a more sober manner.
"Groups that have left extremism have done so as a result of extensive debate and discussion, and never as a result of forceful suppression. Dealing with this problem, first and foremost, needs education."
Banned extremist Islamic organisation al-Muhajiroun have been recruiting at universities across the UK, including Oxford, in the past two decades. In July Omar Bakri, second-in-command of al-Muhajiroun, admitted to speaking at meetings in Oxford over a 14-year period.
Bakri told the Spectator, "We used to have open discussion sessions inside the Student Union. We were there every Wednesday or Thursday, but we never used an Islamic name. We always had a variety of names: ‘peaceful society’, ‘shisha society’, ‘intellectual society’. No-one paid any attention to us. They didn’t see us as extremists but as intellectual students."In May, the University and College Union, the largest UK union for academics, voted to reject government plans instructing academics to report students with extremist views. They called for members to "resist attempts by government to engage colleges and universities in activities which amount to increased surveillance of Muslim or other minority students and to the use of members of staff for such witch-hunts."
