“It was Like the Stasi had Come to my Door”
The Mail reports today that an Exeter University philosophy student was threatened with expulsion in 2018 after he was overheard through the wall of his room by a neighbour who took exception to his views: 💬 A philosophy student overheard through the wall of his room saying “veganism is wrong” and “gender fluidity is stupid” was threatened with expulsion by his university, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. Robert Ivinson said he was disciplined after a student next door in halls of residence at Exeter University heard the comments then complained he had been offensive and “transphobic”. Mr. Ivinson, who expressed the views in a phone call to a friend, was hauled before university officials and put on a ‘behavioural contract’ for the rest of his studies. [...] It’s not clear what the most remarkable aspect of this story is: the eavesdropping neighbour who dobbed him in; the University employee who enthusiastically went round to Mr. Ivinson’s room to threaten him for daring to criticise Veganism; or Exeter for punishing him for holding non-conformist views. Whichever it was, the comparison with the Stasi and East Germany seems uncomfortably appropriate.