Call out: Protest Milo Yiannopoulos’ Nomination for Rector

We are organising a demonstration on the 16^th March to coincide with the hustings taking place at the University of Glasgow for the position of rector. We have called for this action to protest the nominations of Milo Yiannopoulos and Professor Jordan Peterson for rector of the university.

The University of Glasgow is one of five Scottish universities that elect a rector to represent students as chairman of the university court, which administers university resources. The rector is also expected to bring student concerns to the university management. So far, the position of rector has been largely ceremonial, it has important powers should they be utilized and is very prestigious. Given that both these men’s views are in direct conflict with University’s Equality and Diversity policy, they would not make suitable rectors.

Milo Yiannopoulos is a Trump-supporting alt-right troll who recently became infamous for his comments supporting paedophilia. He has written numerous articles for Breitbart and made comments attacking foreign students, women in science, the LGBTQI+ community (transgender students in particular), and anyone who disagrees with him. His views put him in direct opposition with many parts of the Equality and Diversity police, including, for example, the commitment to increase the number of women in senior academic roles. He has repeatedly used speeches on University campuses to target students, and encouraged his followers to harass them.

Professor Jordan Peterson has angered many students at the University of Toronto for his refusal to use gender-neutral pro-nouns and his attacks on members of the campus community who use them. Addressing people by their chosen pronoun is clearly stated in University policy, and thus Peterson’s position directly breaches it.

We will be protesting not only to show that these views are not welcome on our campus, but also that we will stand in solidarity with and support those members of our community that these views target. To be clear, we do not equate Jordan Peterson with the fascist troll Yiannopoulos; however, both represent to varying degrees the intolerant trope, currently on the rise in the West, of privileged voices that seek to silence and oppress others. In addition, both have expressed views that are diametrically opposed to the University’s Equality Policy.

This is not a limitation on free speech, as both nominees have ample opportunity to spread their bigotry elsewhere. As they are ‘free’ to spout their venomous views from positions of privilege and power, we are also ‘free’ to protest them.

The University has refused to remove Milo Yiannopoulos and Jordan Peterson from the nomination despite their standing in stark opposition to their own Equality and Diversity policy. By claiming ‘neutrality’ over this issue, the University refuses to guarantee the safety of its own students and ridicules its proclaimed ‘inclusive’ credentials. We will be demonstrating to show our discontent and that there are some who will not tolerate the continuing spread of hatred towards vulnerable groups.

We call on students and the wider Glasgow community to join us at 17:30 on March 16^th, at the University main gate and help us to show the university that we will not tolerate fascism and hatred to be spread on our campus.

For more information please contact the Glasgow University Anarchist Student Group

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/401288756892280/