Feminist professor Kathleen Stock QUITS University of Sussex

Feminist professor Kathleen Stock QUITS University of Sussex – after ‘bullying and harassment’ campaign to oust her by students in trans rights row

  • Professor Stock, 48, had been branded a ‘transphobe’ by some students
  • Posters were put up claiming she ‘makes trans students feel unsafe’  
  • The academic said today on Twitter that she was leaving her position 

Feminist professor Kathleen Stock has quit her job at the University of Sussex after students carried out a ‘bullying and harassment’ campaign to oust her from her position over a row about transgender rights. 

Professor Stock, 48, an expert in gender and sexual orientation who works for the University of Sussex, had been branded a ‘transphobe’ by some outraged students who called for her to be fired.

Posters put up in the tunnel from Falmer station to the university’s campus earlier this month said she ‘makes trans students unsafe’ and ‘we’re not paying £9,250 a year for transphobia’.

Banners saying ‘Stock Out’ had also been held alongside burning flares and scores of people were criticising her online under the Twitter hashtag #ShameOnSussexUni. 

The University’s Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell had strongly defended her ‘untrammelled’ right to ‘say what she thinks’, whilst more than 200 academics from other universities signed a letter calling out alleged abuse from ‘trans activist bullies’.

But today, Professor Stock announced on Twitter that she was ‘sad to announce’ she is leaving her position, and added that she hoped ‘other institutions can learn from this’. 

Feminist professor Kathleen Stock has quit her job at the University of Sussex after students carried out a ‘bullying and harassment’ campaign to oust her from her position over a row about transgender rights 

Today, she announced on Twitter that she was leaving her position, and said she hoped ‘other institutions can learn from this’

In a letter to staff, Sussex’s Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell said that the university had ‘vigorously’ defended her right to ‘exercise her academic freedom and lawful freedom of speech, free from bullying and harassment of any kind.’

But he added: ‘We 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 Stock said in her tweet that she was ‘sad to announce’ she is leaving. 

‘This has been a very difficult few years, but the leadership’s approach more recently has been admirable and decent.

‘I hope that other institutions in similar situations can learn from this,’ she added. 

Banners saying ‘Stock Out’ had also been held alongside burning flares and scores of people were criticising her online under the Twitter hashtag #ShameOnSussexUni

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