In my first term as the Activities and Communities Sabbatical Officer at LSE Students’ Union (LSESU), I encountered a recurring concern from students.
Would they be penalised for inviting controversial speakers or expressing their views on so-called ‘contentious topics’ such as Trans rights, Israel/Palestine, abortion and sexual misconduct on campus?
The question was clear – what does free speech in higher education, particularly at LSE, actually look like for students?
To answer this, I decided to take a data-driven approach and spearheaded the LSESU Power to Speak Campaign.
The goal? Move beyond theoretical debates and ground the conversation in real student experiences.
Research to action
We examined relevant LSE policies, the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act, and coverage on free speech in HE – especially the paused Free Speech Act, with Wonkhe’s insights proving invaluable.
Next, we engaged directly with student groups and leaders most affected by these issues, ensuring their experiences shaped the campaign’s objectives.
A critical part of the strategy was securing influence where it mattered. I obtained a permanent invitation to the LSE Campus Relations Group. This committee includes LSE Senior Management, EDI, and Faith Centre colleagues and discusses how to build positive campus relations despite the often elevated tensions both between students, and with the institution on issues regarding free speech.
Importantly, I could now work alongside key decision-makers, maximising the chances of our findings being implemented both centrally and through LSE’s autonomous departmental structure.
To promote constructive dialogue, we collaborated with the LSE Eden Centre for Education Enhancement and the charity Facing History & Ourselves. Together, we hosted a Student Education Panel exploring how students experience Faith in the Classroom, which engaged over 50 students.
At the same time, we launched a “Power to Speak” survey to gather broader insights beyond experiences explicitly linked to religion.
The timeline was intense. I was invited to present these findings to all 28 LSE Heads of Department at their January away day – a 45-minute slot on campus relations and free speech. This meant we had just one month to collect and analyse data before preparing a compelling presentation with a solid proposal of recommendations. Departments responded positively, as we discussed how academic staff could practically navigate Academic Freedom rights with their duty of care to students with one recommendation being to encompass Principled Spaces into guidance/training to all teaching staff across departments.
What students told us
The survey results were telling. We received responses from 593 students in the Power to Speak Survey. This engagement matched that of the LSESU ‘Big Conversation’ Welcome Survey, subsequently becoming the most engaged with article published in our newsletter on any single day.
- Half of the students felt LSE lacked structured opportunities for dialogue between groups with opposing views.
- Nearly half – 45 per cent – felt unequipped to encounter or respond to harmful speech protected under free speech laws.
- A striking 75 per cent agreed that teachers ultimately define what speech is accepted in the classroom.
- One in four students admitted to not feeling comfortable speaking up in class.
Qualitative responses added further nuance. Many students admitted to strategically contributing in class – not to promote real debate, but to avoid contentious discussions spiraling into personal arguments which would undermine the academic quality of discussions.
Religious students, in particular, were apprehensive about discussing religion in an academic setting, worried their views would not be treated with the same intellectual legitimacy as other perspectives.
These findings were more than just statistics – they revealed a culture of self-censorship, uncertainty, a lack of confidence, and an unstructured approach to dialogue on sensitive topics. The next step was to act on them.
What’s next?
I now co-chair the Student Campus Relations Group alongside our General Secretary Tito Molokwu, a committee designed to encourage dialogue among diverse initiatives that promote dialogue among diverse student leaders while providing direct student input to the LSE Campus Relations Group.
The LSESU have just applied for funding from LSE’s new Campus Relations Innovation Fund to support such events, aiming to bring together members from Jewish Society, Islamic Society, Palestine Society and Israel Society without fearing disagreements or needing to change respective opinions. Alongside fostering honest and respectful discussions in these spaces, we are working with these students on a series of extra-curricular and non-dialogue based events to establish similarities as LSE students and young adults in London notwithstanding differences.
Another major upcoming initiative is a sub-panel under the Faith in the Classroom Education Panel, which I am co-designing and delivering with colleagues from LSE’s Inclusive Education department and the Faith Centre. The goal is to provide a structured space for discussions on faith and free speech and to further interrogate the findings form the first Faith in the Classroom event – an area long overlooked at LSE. This will be in addition to attending an Education Forum with Programme Directors to present findings from Power to Speak to a wider academic audience.
The LSESU are both continuing our Right to Protest workshops and introducing Free Speech workshops at the LSESU Students’ Leader Conference. These sessions will inform society leaders and equip them with the necessary skills to facilitate dialogue within the boundaries of the law, ensuring they feel empowered rather than constrained by free speech regulations.
Looking ahead, we plan to implement new skills workshops for all 2025/26 incoming students, helping them build the confidence to navigate difficult conversations and disagreements at university.
We are also lobbying for inclusive pedagogical approaches across LSE, particularly advocating for academic staff training on establishing Principled Spaces in classrooms.
This campaign is the first at LSE to address religion and free speech comprehensively. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and it is exciting to see how the Power to Speak Campaign has already informed new initiatives across the school.
The work isn’t done, but we’ve started something that has the potential to reshape free speech discussions at LSE – not as an abstract right, but as a lived experience.
