SOAS statement on the 2016/17 Henry Jackson Society report
SOAS Registrar Paula Sanderson said:
We take our duty of care to our community and our legal obligations very seriously.
SOAS hosts hundreds of speakers every year and has a robust policy and code of practice for events held on campus. We also conduct due diligence on all such activities. Indeed our policy was given a high rating last year by the Henry Jackson Society.
The events referred to in the Henry Jackson report were held under the auspices of student societies at SOAS. They were legal. No concerns were raised with us by local police or Prevent officers.
At SOAS we believe that it is only through freedom of debate and robust discussion that universities can work to address some of the most complex and challenging issues facing the world today.
We recognise that these freedoms and rights are not absolute - they are freedoms to be exercised within the law.