exeposé The UK’s SouthBest West’s Best Publication Student Publication The Student 2023
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ISSUE 767 26 FEB 2025 exepose.com @exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Over 60 societies sign open letter to Guild
Image: Freedom Society
Image: Rethinking Society
Fighting pant poverty Page 4
Amy Rushton and Rosie Peters-McDonald Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor
What’s in a word?: reclaiming a label Page 12
LGBTQ+ History Month playlist Page 21
Images (top to bottom): LGOKIAT, Taqwomen via Wikimedia Commons, Justin Higuchi via Wikimedia Commons
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS CONTENT RELATING TO RACIST LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE WHICH SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING
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ORE than 60 societies have signed an open letter to the University of Exeter Students’ Guild standing against Islamophobia. This comes after the publication of Exeposé’s investigation into islamophobic statements which were made at a talk held by Freedom Society in October 2024 (Issue 766). A statement made by the Guild at time of publishing was deemed insufficient by dozens of societies, who have reposted a statement on their official Instagram accounts, the first being that of Student Action For Refugees (STAR). This reads: “Student Action For Refugees (STAR) society stands united against islamophobia and demands Exeter Students’ Guild take action now.” The full letter, included in the caption shared by every society partaking, reads, “Our society stands united against Islamophobia. On campus, in our city, and in our daily lives. We call upon the student Guild to take seriously the recently exposed hateful rhetoric spread at Freedom Society events, as it fosters an unsafe environment for the Exeter community. “[Exeter Student’s Guild] have a duty
of care, and must actively combat activities that threaten the safety of students and staff. Universities are places of free speech. But when hateful comments actively intimidate and endanger other people, our institutions must intervene. To remain neutral is to neglect their responsibilities, and accept harm to people in our community. “We stand united with dozens of other societies in this message. We expect more from our Students’ Guild.” At time of printing, this has been posted by 64 societies. In the days following the publication of Exeposé’s investigation, a student-led petition titled ‘Stop Hosting Hate: Urge Exeter Venues to Reject Freedom Society Events’ has been started, alongside a boycott of The White Hart, a pub on South Street, where Freedom Society regularly hosts events. The student who started the petition told Exeposé: “We believe in freedom of speech, however, that freedom does not make one immune to the consequences of said speech. The abhorrent remarks made by Freedom fall under the category of hate speech and it is the duty of society to repudiate it. Exeter University is already perceived as an unwelcoming place for minorities (as compared to other Russell Group universities). “Therefore, by making a petition with the goal of making hate speech harder to disseminate, students of the University have the opportunity to denounce hate speech and take meaningful action against it. We must make it clear that we do not welcome hate in our community and that we are ready to fight it.”
Many of the signatories of the open letter expressed support for this boycott; a spokesperson for Rethinking society said, “Many of our members support the petition to boycott these venues, because the issues highlighted by the scandal do not only affect our campus but are carried through Exeter and wherever their rhetoric is heard. “We believe it’s indicative of a sharp rise in fascist and far-right politics in Europe and America. It is important that we show up to protect and work with those most marginalised in society.” A spokesperson for Socialist Society further stated, “A group of students went to Freedom Society’s event at The White Hart to disrupt it. The plan was to speak over them so they couldn’t hold their talk. This succeeded and eventually all of Freedom Society left the meeting room. This kind of action is what’s necessary to remove hate from our campus when the Guild won’t.” The White Hart were approached for a comment but had not replied by the time of publication. In late 2022, another open letter was written to the Students’ Guild in response to a talk held by Freedom Society titled “Daddy Issues: The Crisis of Fatherlessness”. Despite support from multiple societies, Freedom Society remained active in the wake of the criticism. The Society has previously hosted controversial speakers and events, a recent speaker including David Starkey, who resigned from Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University in 2020 after making comments on slavery which were labelled
“racist” and an example of “appalling views” by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, an Exeter alumnus. A spokesperson for Youth Demand, one of the signatories, told Exeposé, “Islamophobic and racist rhetoric like Freedom encourages violent action against racial and religious minorities which cannot be ignored. “If the Guild does not take steps to tackle this, the student body will have to.” The Socialist Society shared this sentiment, telling Exeposé “The Freedom Society’s recent islamophobic comments are abhorrent and should be condemned, but this is typical behaviour which they have been displaying for a long time.” Exeposé asked Rethinking Society to share their expectations of the Guild’s response to the open letter. A spokesperson stated, “We are hoping that our open letter will spark a larger discussion and initiative from the Guild to assess why Freedom Society has been able to act with relative impunity over several incredibly controversial instances of misogyny, classism, and racism (including islamophobia). “We also hope that the Guild not only understands that freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of consequences, but actually takes initiative to meet it’s value of ‘radical inclusion’, such as creating structures for students to be involved in dialogue about these issues but mainly a platform for students and staff to engage in ‘radical inclusion’.” Continued on Page 4