The Open University says sorry.

Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University responds to the ruling:

This judgment made for difficult reading for all of us. In several areas we fell very short. We apologise unreservedly to Professor Phoenix for the hurt and distress this has caused.

This is not The Open University we want to be.

The University has supported and continues to support the work of the Gender Critical Research Network (GCRN) as part of the many important research activities that take place  at the OU. But our understanding of academic freedom and freedom of speech at the time meant we did not intervene about the open letter, statements and social media posts that followed the GCRN’s launch. The tribunal ruling makes it clear that we should have acted differently to address the impact of this reaction on Professor Phoenix and the working environment that she experienced.

That’s not very convincing.

The people in charge of the OU really didn’t grasp that an organized dedicated noisy campaign of bullying directed at one female professor by her colleagues would be, shall we say, unpleasant?

Come on. They can’t be that stupid.

Furthermore I don’t believe it was their understanding of academic freedom and freedom of speech at the time that “meant” they did not intervene. (Note the careful passivity of that impersonal “meant” – they didn’t do anything or fail to do anything, it’s just that their non-actions “meant” they…failed to do anything.) I think that’s a self-exonerating excuse. I think they didn’t want to intervene, because they didn’t want to be called names and shouted at either. Everyone is terrified to say boo about trans ideology, so terrified that they dress their terror up as somehow having a defective understanding of free speech.

Weasel words in short. The vice-chancellor is weasel-wording.

Update: forgot to h/t NightCrow