The Exchange

Much criticism of UCL has flowed from the Detroit Bomb Plot, and of the UCL Islamic Society in particular. Many in the media have called for higher levels of control on the activities of such organisations, but it must be realised that this is not the solution. Solutions address causes, and the University is not itself a cause.

Some have accused the university environment of being a breeding ground for radicals, and I cannot honestly dispute this: wherever many great minds come together, radical ideas will surface. The vast majority of these, however, are revolutionary advancements in technology, science, political thought and so on; not religious extremism.

Moreover, it is precisely through engaging in frank and open debate that young people are able to challenge their own preconceptions in a safe environment; to rationalise and order their initial reactions to the world around them and to understand the opposing views. After all, that is what education is. To compromise this facility by imposing limitations on the activities of student groups would undoubtedly do more harm than good. Certainly pushing such ideas underground would intensify any levels of extremism, but much more than that - outside that - it would lead to the isolation of thousands of young people, left as they would be without satisfactory means of expression and academic exploration. Indeed, such isolation has seemingly been a key factor in the Detroit Plot.

Freedom of expression is not à la carte; we cannot pick and choose what we want - within the bounds of the law, it is a wholesale option. The law rightly sets some absolute boundaries, but to impose further restrictions on student organisations would be disastrous.

This is a testing moment for our society, and I close by harking back to Voltaire: Je ne suis pas d’accord avec un mot de ce que vous dites, mais je me battrai jusqu’à la mort pour votre droit de le dire. If we cannot defend free expression now, then the notion is utterly meaningless.

Fiona Whiteside
President
UCL Student Human Rights Programme