The week in higher education – 24 October 2024

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan is out of the running to become the University of Oxford’s next chancellor. According to The Times, Mr Khan, who is currently serving behind bars on corruption charges, described the university’s decision as “extremely disappointing” and his team has written to the university to ask for an explanation. Nevertheless, a diverse range of 38 candidates have made the cut, with the approved applications including, in the words of one social media poster, “some real gems”. Take, for example, the applicant who said their love of Zumba was sure to help them deal with the responsibilities of the role, or another who described the city’s “pub chat” as “of a high calibre”. One applicant even went as far as to turn the tables and suggest that, rather than explaining why they were a suitable candidate, university bosses should justify why they would be unsuitable – logic even an institution of Oxford’s stature might struggle to counter. 

A professor at the University of Kansas has found himself in hot water after suggesting that certain voters should be shot. Phillip Lowcock, a health sport and exercise science lecturer, was recorded delivering a class in which he criticised men who refuse to vote for female candidates “because they don’t think females are smart enough to be president”. He then went on to say, “We can line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don’t understand the way the world works.” While the professor attempted to cover his tracks, saying “scratch that from the recording”, the video instead went viral. According to Inside Higher Ed, Professor Lowcock is now on leave, having apologised for his behaviour. Meanwhile, those advocating for the post-pandemic norm of lectures being recorded to end may have found another recruit to join their ranks.

Free-speech advocate James Tooley has been suspended from his post as vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, pending an inquiry into allegations made against him. While the reason for the suspension has not been made public, Professor Tooley described the allegations against him as “baseless and malicious”. Despite his firm belief in free speech, Professor Tooley said he was unable to comment further due to university regulations. Under his leadership, the private university launched a course on “wokeism”, which offers students the chance to study “the Western cultural left and its accompanying symbolic system of wokeness”. Fortunately for Professor Tooley, the classes have only recently begun; now that he’s been temporarily relieved of his duties, perhaps the vice-chancellor will have time to participate in the 15-week course. 

Perhaps fed up with his own island after two years on the throne (who can really blame him?), King Charles has set his sights on some more tropical ones. This week the Association of Commonwealth Universities announced that the monarch had made a “significant” personal donation to establish a fellowship programme for places such as Mauritius, the Maldives, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Fiji. The scheme will train professionals and academics to better address the challenges facing such “small island developing states”, which are at the forefront of the climate crisis. “There is so much we can learn from one another as we work together within the Commonwealth to tackle the major challenges of our age,” King Charles said. Meanwhile, Colin Riordan, chief executive of the ACU, described the news as “an honour”. After all, it doesn’t get much better than the royal seal of approval. 

Bridget Phillipson, the UK’s new education secretary, has a lot on her plate. Between trying to push through a controversial plan to apply VAT to private school fees and grappling with the university funding crisis, one could wonder how she has the time to maintain any semblance of a personal life. Fortunately, Ms Phillipson seems to be adjusting just fine, having been one of several Cabinet ministers – also including science secretary Peter Kyle – to accept free tickets to a Taylor Swift concert at Wembley earlier this year. And who can blame her? Well, most of the UK tabloids apparently, after it emerged Ms Swift had been granted preferential security arrangements during her time in the UK. Given the controversy, Ms Phillipson has since said she will no longer accept free tickets, which may simply be a polite way of getting out of attending the Oasis tour kicking off next year.