The hounding of gender-critical feminists exposes the disingenuous notion that the university today is an inclusive ‘safe space’. The idea of an emotionally safe campus has always been antithetical to education. But the experiences of Stock and Phoenix demonstrate that the dubious privilege of emotional safety extends only to those who share the same set of woke values. Protecting some means silencing and excluding others, by any means necessary.

In 2021, some universities came up with a cunning plan to ensure ignorance was no excuse for transgression. Thanks to mandatory, woke induction modules, new students are no longer left with any doubt as to the narrow selection of views they are permitted to hold.

At the University of Kent, all new students were expected this year to complete a compulsory course on diversity, covering topics such as white privilege, microaggressions and pronouns. An example of white privilege presented on the course was the capacity to wear second-hand clothes without this being blamed on ‘the bad morals of my race’. Meanwhile, at the University of St Andrews, students wanting to score full marks had to know that equality doesn’t mean ‘treating everyone the same’, but rather ‘treating people differently and in a way that is appropriate to their needs so that they have fair outcomes and equal opportunity’.