Michael Foran, who became the subject of a social media controversy last month, says that things have quieted down after his employer, the University of Glasgow, final showed public support for his academic freedom.
The initial controversy surrounding Foran began when he offered his opinion on the potential implications of the upcoming For Women v The Scottish Ministers case at the Supreme Court. In short, the Court will decide whether a person with a Gender Recognition Certificate for the gender of female is indeed a woman for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010.
Foran’s analysis concluded that regardless of the outcome of the case, it would nevertheless remain legal to have bathrooms exclusively for biological females in public spaces, though the same would not apply to a private employer. This was not an argument for what the law ought to be, but an analysis of what it currently is.
Although Michael Foran is a lecturer of law, specialising in equality law, this did not prevent people on Twitter attacking everything from his qualifications to his personal character. Foran became more and more distressed by the online vitriol. He repeatedly asked the University to publicly support him, and to reject the calls for his dismissal. However, Glasgow dragged its feet, and Foran soon went on sick leave, overwhelmed by the situation.
As news of the controversy spread, many academics and free speech organisations, including CAF, began calling on the University of Glasgow to issue a statement in support of Foran’s academic freedom. Thankfully, these efforts were not in vain. Shortly after Foran returned from sick leave and resumed his teaching, he received an email from University’s COO David Duncan with a full statement of support.
In no uncertain terms, Duncan stated that “the University supports your [Foran’s] right (and that of all members of academic staff) to academic freedom and freedom of expression without fear of harassment and defamation. This relates in particular to your engagement with the public on matters of equality law, whether in media, social media or other forums.”
The statement went on to say that “[a]s a research-intensive institution committed to scholarship and public engagement, the University of Glasgow will continue to uphold the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression whether they relate to equality law or any other area of research”.
Duncan ended his statement by saying that the Principal Anton Muscatelli “is in full agreement with this position”. With that, the hopes of the online activists of getting Foran fired from the University were extinguished. Indeed, Foran told CAF that “the abuse stopped almost immediately upon publication of the letter”.
While Foran continues to be active on Substack and Twitter, and still occasionally attracts the ire of those who disagree with him, appeals to his employer to have him dismissed seem to have stopped. Whether the public support of Glasgow was the deciding factor is hard to know for sure, but Foran says that he has a “strong belief that these statements of support play an important role in stopping or preventing the online harassment of academics”.
Either way, universities should always show support for academics, and their right to research and investigate any topic, regardless of how controversial it may be. Even if the statement from Glasgow had not stopped the attacks on Foran, it would still have given him personal reassurance, and sent a strong signal to all other academics.