Kathleen Stock quits Sussex after transgender rights row

Kathleen Stock, the philosopher who was targeted by student activists over her views on gender identification, has quit the University of Sussex.

She said she was leaving her post as professor of philosophy after having an “absolutely horrible time” amid the furore over her insistence that individuals cannot change their biological sex.

Professor Stock was advised by police to stay off campus and to install CCTV outside her home after a group of students put up posters demanding that she be fired and a group of protesters made a similar call. Earlier this month, Professor Stock said that a statement from Sussex’s University and College Union branch urging management to take “a clear and strong stance against transphobia” had “effectively ended my career” at the institution.

Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said it was “absolutely appalling that the toxic environment at the University of Sussex has made it untenable for Kathleen Stock to continue in her position there”.

In a message to staff, Sussex vice-chancellor Adam Tickell said he had hoped that Professor Stock “would feel able to return to work, and we would have supported her to do so”.

“She has decided that recent events have meant that this will not be possible, and we respect and understand that decision. We will miss her many contributions, from which the university has benefited during her time here,” Professor Tickell said.

While “rigorous academic challenge” was welcome, he continued, Sussex had witnessed “an intolerance of [Professor Stock] as a member of our community because of her work”.

“This is now – and will always be – in direct opposition to even the most basic principles of academia,” Professor Tickell said, adding that Professor Stock’s departure was “a loss to us all”.

Professor Stock, who has always rejected accusations of transphobia, wrote on Twitter that she was leaving Sussex after a “very difficult few years” but that management’s “approach more recently has been admirable and decent”.

“This has been an absolutely horrible time for me and my family. I’m putting it behind me now. On to brighter things soon, I hope,” she wrote.

Speaking to Times Higher Education last year, Professor Stock described Sussex as being “quite a hostile environment”.

Ms Donelan said the incident “demonstrates only too clearly why this government is pressing ahead with legislation to promote and defend free speech on campuses”.

“It is absolutely appalling that the toxic environment at the University of Sussex has made it untenable for Kathleen Stock to continue in her position there. No academic should ever have to fear for their personal safety,” Ms Donelan said.

“The sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation she has faced is deplorable, and the situation should never have got this far.”

In his message to staff, Professor Tickell said Sussex would “of course reflect on Professor Stock’s experiences, and it will form part of how the university learns from this and moves forwards – together”.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com