Freedom of speech at universities is not under threat – it is actually thriving

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Analysing campus policy, events and a survey, wherein nearly a third of staff reported workplace harassment and bullying, the results of Civitas’s traffic light ranking – just 14 per cent of universities were designated “green” – are enough to make a libertarian squeal. The issue of quantifying something we perceive to be a fundamental right is, once again, making headlines – but surely, free speech will be defined differently depending on who you’re asking. The dons at Cambridge raised a similar point, voting earlier this month to amend the phrase “respectful of” to “tolerate” in a series of updates to free speech rules proposed by the university’s council. They got rid of my favourite eugenics window!” – but, as ever, the hysteria about “woke” censorship sheds light on the debate’s truly fragile side.