Provost's Update: ongoing support for our community

Dear all,

As the conflict in Israel and Palestine develops, the distress that is felt by so many in our community continues. For some, this is because of direct personal links, for others it is a matter of the scale of the human tragedy that we are witnessing. Few of us will be entirely unaffected.

For that reason, I want to point again to the support that is available for everyone who needs it. I would highlight, in particular, our Psychological First Aid, which has been developed specifically for students affected by conflict and disaster. As we see such terrible human suffering, I urge anyone who would benefit from it to contact the team. This is a completely confidential service where you can gain support in ways that are tailored to your needs and situation.

We are holding drop-in sessions this week for anyone affected:

• For those impacted by events in Palestine or incidents of Islamophobia – Wednesday 25 October, 3pm-4.30pm, Room 102, 23 Gordon Square
• For those impacted by events in Israel or incidents of antisemitism – Thursday 26 October 3pm-4.30pm, Room G09, 1-19 Torrington Place

More drop-in events will be arranged in future and faculties and departments are also encouraged to arrange their own.

I also want to urge everyone who experiences or witnesses any form of abuse, discrimination or harassment to report it to us, anonymously if you prefer, via Report + Support. In particular, we are very conscious of the fact that instances of anti-Palestinian and anti-Israeli hostility, Islamophobia and antisemitism are likely to be higher right now than we are seeing reported. We really need you to report what you are experiencing so that we can have a full picture of what is happening on our campuses and can address it in an informed way. I understand that reporting incidents can be a difficult thing to do, and opportunities are available for both staff and students to have confidential conversations in order to find a way forward that feels safest to you.

Full details of how you can access support and report any incidents are here.

Since my previous email on 12 October, I have received a number of responses asking that UCL expresses a clear partisan position on the violence and conflict affecting Israel and Palestine. My response is that it would be entirely wrong for UCL as an institution to do so. UCL is a large, diverse community and therefore a place containing a wide diversity of opinions, experiences and perspectives. A university should be a forum for engagement, enabling views, even passionately held and strongly conflicting views, to be expressed and debated in as constructive and considered a way as possible. The university itself should never be a participant in debate outside matters directly concerning higher education since, should it become so, the freedom to express contrary views is inevitably inhibited. A vital job of the institution is to uphold freedom of speech within the law for everyone in our community without fear or favour. Alongside Students' Union UCL, we are ensuring that activities and events run securely and that all speech is enabled provided it is within the law.

At a time when feelings are incredibly raw and when we are witnessing such terrible human suffering, it is really important that people are able to come together to discuss what is happening and what it means, to voice opinions and to organise activities that feel meaningful. I ask again that, as we all respond in our own way to the terrible events, we do so with awareness that this is an excruciating time for many of the people around us. I hope that, even though this is a sharply divisive and deeply emotional situation, we will all recognise and care about the pain of others, even if we disagree with them.

Best wishes,

Michael

Dr Michael Spence
UCL President & Provost