UK universities – a new Dark Age?

I have just read Nigel Biggar’s latest book: The New Dark Age: Why Liberals Must Win the Culture Wars (Polity 2026). It is very disturbing. We all know that universities are heavily influenced by woke ideology, decolonisation, and EDI [Equality, Diversity and Inclusion], but I didn’t realise quite how bad it has become.

Universities and 'woke ideology'

The whole sorry story of Jason Arday and his overpromotion by Cambridge University exposed a serious problem in academia. I don’t really blame Arday so much as the people who promoted him and celebrated him even though they were aware of his extensive plagiarism and easily disprovable claims. Then there were the sinister legal letters threatening those who dared to question his credentials and reporting them to police for harassment. It was all bound to fall apart one day, and so it did, with devastating consequences for Arday and his family.

It emerged that a member of the interview panel which selected Arday had praised Black Lives Matter, Rhodes Must Fall, and pro-Gaza student protests for helping “decolonise the curriculum from the ground up.” Another panel member has argued that education should teach students to “disrupt, refuse, and displace liberal democratic principles” and create a “new moral order” that challenges Western democracy. These people are professors. They are openly saying that they are opposed to the values which created the institutions they make their livings from. How did they get into such positions?

Cambridge University also lost a whistleblowing tribunal this month, with the Vice Chancellor herself directly criticised in the findings of the tribunal. This is evidence of a culture of cover-up which goes right to the top.

In addition, Cambridge University recently appointed an Assistant Research Professor in the Faculty of Education who has criticised British schools for teaching that child marriage is wrong. She has written that the Islamic concept of education is sharply opposed to “gaining literacy and numeracy and other disciplinary skills demonstrated through qualifications.” She also wrote that “western education is a threat to [Muslim] beliefs and values.” How is someone like that appointed to teach education at Cambridge University?

I had forgotten that Cambridge University unceremoniously cancelled Jordan Peterson’s visiting fellowship in 2019. The fact that this was first announced on Twitter by Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) betrayed the fact that the university had capitulated to student activists. The faculty followed with its own announcement before communicating with Peterson, without even the courtesy of an explanation let alone a right of reply.

Biggar notes that Cambridge University faculty member Dr Gopal described him in 2017 as a “bigot”, a “racist”, and a “white supremacist”, and said that everything that comes out of his mouth is “vomit”. This is hardly respectful dialogue about a fellow academic. It would in fact contravene the university’s Social Media Guidelines. Never mind about that, though – Dr Gopal has since been promoted to professor. Promoting someone who shows such disrespect for a fellow academic speaks volumes about the values of the institution.

Again, at Cambridge University in 2020, the administration proposed to amend the university’s policy on free speech to require members to “respect” the views and identities of others. Dr Arif Ahmed quite rightly objected that while he may be expected to tolerate the views and identities of others which he regards as nonsense, he should not be expected to respect them. He needed to get 25 signatories to secure a debate on the motion. This proved more difficult than expected as many academics were privately sympathetic but were afraid to publicly say so. After twelve weeks of lobbying, he managed to secure the debate and an anonymous vote on the motion. The university was defeated by 1,378 votes to 208. The defeat was only possible because the vote was anonymous. This demonstrates a sinister culture of fear amongst academics.

Biggar cites several examples of egregious treatment of him and misrepresentation of him by fellow academics. Professor Richard Drayton of King's College London, in an essay published in 2019 about Biggar, notes that Biggar’s great-great-grandfather founded a business which dealt “in . . . manure.” What is the relevance of that? He even noted that Biggar was born 50 miles away from the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle who wrote a racist discourse. Really? Then, for good measure, he adds that Biggar went to the same school as Sir Richard Dearlove who was Tony Blair’s head of MI6 during the production of the “dodgy dossier”. Does this kind of utterly base insinuation count as scholarship these days?

Biggar also cites an example from Oxford University where he took part in a panel discussion. When he pointed out to a professor that she had just contradicted herself she dismissed him with, “Enough of your donnish tutorial tactics!” Do these professors just not care about truth or reason anymore? If truth no longer matters, then it is all about power. No wonder there is an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in academia with many academics afraid to speak their minds.

A 'new Dark Age'?

Examples could be multiplied. The point is that university authorities appear to be very largely captured by woke ideology. This is akin to a religion, as Biggar points out, with its own sense of righteousness. They are not interested in truth or logic or reasoning. They are interested in political power which supports their agenda. Intimidation is common. Cancellation is not unusual. Self-cancellation results, and that is extremely common. We are in a new Dark Age.

The term “Dark Ages”, when used to refer to the Middle Ages, is now largely discredited because the Christian influence at that time was strong and scientific advancement and learning grew rapidly. But now it seems we are on the brink of a real Dark Age.

It is not really surprising with the decline of Christianity that we should be entering a Dark Age. Christian values cannot be expected to last in a non-Christian culture. Our once prestigious universities were originally founded by Christians with Christian aims and values. They continued to see their role as at least partly moral formation in Christian virtues right up until the early 20th-century. Now the idea that universities should take responsibility for moral formation is mocked. But there is no neutral option here. Values and virtues are taught and modelled – the question is which values and virtues are being taught. At present we are actively teaching students that we do not care about virtue. They are learning the lesson.

The only solution here is to recapture universities for Christ. That is a multi-year, and perhaps even a multi-generational project. They were once set up to glorify God. They badly need to recover that aim.

The other option is to start over with new Christian universities. Selden College is a new Christian Higher Education initiative in Oxford aiming to do just that. We need more such initiatives.

Unless we decide that universities should cultivate Christian virtues, this new Dark Age will only get darker.

Biggar reminds us that it was students in 1930s Germany who were the most active supporters of Nazism. There are parallels with today’s intolerant wokeism and the contemporary capitulation of universities to student pressure. Without significant change, our new Dark Age could get very dark indeed.