Not my university

Bad news back at Leeds, where apparently a university lecturer has expressed racist views in an interview with the Leeds Student newspaper.

In a row that has reignited the debate on the limits of freedom of speech, Frank Ellis, a lecturer in Russian and Slavonic studies, sparked anger after stating, in an interview with the university's student newspaper, that he was an 'unrepentant Powellite' who thought that the BNP was 'a bit too socialist' for his liking.

Ellis said he supported right-wing ideas such as the Bell Curve theory, which held that white people were more intelligent than black people. '[It] has demonstrated to me beyond any reasonable doubt there is a persistent gap in average black and white average intelligence.' Repatriation would get his support, he added, if it was done 'humanely'.

Now students are preparing to picket his lectures, protest on campus and bombard the vice-chancellor with emails calling for Ellis to be removed from his post.

If he was stupid enough to say all this in the context of an on-the-record interview with a student newspaper, then he deserves whatever he gets. Personally, I'd be very happy to see the back of him, not just because of his noxious and offensive views, but because his stated belief that the Bell Curve theory "proves" that black people have lower intelligence than white people shows that he is unable to think logically and rationally, and therefore should not be allowed to teach.

To be honest, I'm just really saddened to see stuff like this at my university. Hopefully they will show him the door soon enough. More cheerful blogging soon to come.