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The South West’s Best Student Publication 2025
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ISSUE 782 13 MAY 2026 exepose.com @exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Exeposé yearbook Pages 5, 7, 11 Image: Wikimedia Commons
Exeter’s Institute of Arab and Islamic studies joins Alwaleed cultural network Suhaib Shaukat
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2026 Women’s Fiction Prize Page 19
HE University of Exeter’s Institute of Arab and Islam Studies have recently joined the Alwaleed Cultural Network. The network brings together global universities and cultural institutions to help create a more inclusive and interconnected world. Established in 2022, it is commit-
ted to foster understanding across cultures, promoting dialogue, and building stronger bridges among religions. Part of the effort includes establishing the number of academic research centres in UK, US and the Middle East.
Part of the effort includes establishing the number of academic research centres in UK, US and the Middle East
Talking to Exeposé William Gallios, Director of IAIS, stated “Exeter’s joining the Alwaleed Cultural Network represents a deepening of ties with Alwaleed Philanthropies, who have been longstanding supporters of travel scholarships which allow Exeter students to study and research in the Arab world. The special value of the Cultural Network lies in the opportunities it affords Exeter to collaborate with partners, such as the
University of Edinburgh, on areas of common interest such as Palestine Studies (and the preservation of threatened Palestinian cultural and documentary heritage in particular)’’.
Which allow Exeter students to study and research in the Arab world
New freedom of speech complaint system at universities Emily S Rizzo & Lauren Walsh Editor-in-Chief & Deputy Editor
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Pogačar on top again Page 31
Cap graphic: rawprizel Images (top to bottom): flickr, nytimes.com
NEW system to be used for freedom of speech complaints at universities is being introduced and will be implemented from the 1st of September 2026, to align with the beginning of the new academic year. It builds on the stronger laws regarding freedom of speech on university campuses that came into effect in August of last year. The system will now allow staff, nonstudent members and visiting speakers to voice their complaints directly with the Office for Students (OfS), although it will not be open to students, who can raise their concerns first to their university, and then
to an independent adjudicator. The new complaint system is notably free of charge, while the current system can involve costly judicial reviews or employment tribunals, and allows the OfS to review universities’ handling of incidents, as well as recommending changes to their freedom of speech processes, and compensation for those affected.
The new complaint system is notably free of charge. Furthermore, from April next year, if universities are found guilty of failing to protect free speech, they could face much higher fines than they do at the moment. The new fines will stand at £500,000 or two percent of the university’s income. For context many universities’ income
can lie in the region of millions of pounds, into the billions for some, meaning that a two percent fine could result in much harsher penalties than have previously been issued for failure to protect free speech. For example, in March 2025, the University of Sussex was fined £585,000. Over the last six years, the FSU (Free Speech Union) shared that almost one in ten of its cases dealt in some way with universities “failing to protect free speech.” The new provisions were first proposed by the last Conservative government, followed by the Labour government’s removal of another proposal that would have allowed individual action against universities in civil courts. Professor Malcolm Press CBE DL, President of Universities UK, has said “Free speech and academic freedom are
critical to our universities, to the education of students, and to the generation of new ideas. Universities are bound by law to protect both. We will support our members to comply with the new regulations and are committed to working with the Government, the Office for Students and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education as these new duties are implemented. Protecting free speech while preventing harassment, hate speech, and radicalisation are complex tasks involving finely balanced decisions.” In fact, the BBC reports that the OfS technically holds the ability to remove “the right to provide university level education” under this new system, while the UUK (Universities UK) emphasises that these new powers should be used “fairly, transparently and proportionally”.