Call to review ‘cancel culture’ in universities after student takes own life

29 comments

1. > Rogers, from Salisbury, had been isolated by his peers and friends after a former partner “expressed discomfort over a sexual encounter” on 11 January, the ruling states.

   This is a real tragedy but is it cancel culture if you are ostracised for sexually assaulting someone?

2. What about the calls to review the bullying culture after many students take their own life for being abused for years? 

   This title sounds like weird right wing propaganda. 

3. I didn’t know it was university cancel culture to not want to take sides in a matter of accused sexual assault

4. Cancel/Shame culture at universities is absolutely a problem for students and staff but this seems a particularly poor example.

5. How is this ‘cancel culture’? Have people not always rightly and wrongly been ostracised?

6. It’s easy to be reactive and judge the other students in hindsight, but we don’t know the details, can’t really say whether people were excessive or not based on the information given.

7. so he took his own life 3-4 days after being accused, and after saying his actions were “unintentional but unforgivable”

   what does cancel culture have to do with this exactly? it’s frankly sickening to use a sexual assault victim and a person who likely had prior mental health issues to push your political agenda.

8. So the actual details of the reason/allegation were purposefully left out to muddy the waters, in an attempt by the media to use his suicide as leverage for their own political agenda.

   The media in the UK are utter scum.

9. As somebody who works in a university, there absolutely is an issue with cancel culture (in the true definition of the phrase: removing that person’s power or status due to their perceived actions) but this is not the best example to lead with. Whilst the details remain fuzzy, this appears to be something more problematic that friends have taken a stance on – which nobody will ever be able to eradicate because that’s simply the way humans socialise.

   Cancel culture within university, in my experience, revolves more around using fabricated tales in order to ostracise or isolate either an individual or a small group. Cancel culture generally follows the trends of racism or sexism, from what I’ve seen.

10. I knew it was going to be Oxford as soon as I saw the thumbnail.

11. Non story. “Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Graham said, however, that he had not been able to establish whether any element of a culture at Corpus Christi College had either caused or contributed to Rogers’ distress.”

12. Would this story, with a very strong undercurrent of sexual assault, be making the news if he wasn’t at oxford?

13. Let’s get some perspective.

    There are, on average, 95 suicides at universities every year. This is not a new phenomenon.

    Your cannot pick one suicide out of a thousand and say this is why we must change.

14. So he had some kind of sexual encounter that was deemed to be inappropriate (all a bit vague in the article). He admits to wrongdoing but claims it was unintentional (we have no way of knowing if it was intentional or not). His fellow students chose not to associate with him anymore.

    As tragic as this appears to be, I find it very difficult to get angry about any of it. Is it ‘cancel culture’ to distance yourself from someone who admits to inappropriate sexual behaviour? If one of my friends sexually assaults someone, do I have to remain friends with them in case they kill themselves?

15. Bit of a reality check here. He is responsible for his own actions and the consequences of them. It wasn’t a culture issue or a cancel culture issue – this is being stirred up to promote culture war and division. This is someone who did not feel they had the right support networks in place to talk about what they were experiencing and navigate this.

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17. I’m not sure what this traffic situation has at all to do with cancel culture. This is very poor journalism and especially so because it surrounds the tragic death of a young man. The circumstances of it are not clear from the article which makes it all the worse. What he supposedly did to lead to his ostracisation from his friend group is not at all clear from the article.

    I have known many situations over the years where people have made mistakes, myself included, and this has led to serious consequences with their friendship groups. It’s always difficult for all involved, and sometimes “ostracisation” is justified and sometimes it isn’t. These things are complex and rarely as straightforward as resulting from one specific action. Either way, it’s a part of life, and it’s really important to build both resilience within yourself and a sense of self worth that isn’t entirely dependent on the validation of others. People make mistakes, and it’s important to learn and grow, but equally no one has to be your friend. Friendships, and all human relationships beyond family, are ultimately transactional.

18. This has absolutely nothing to do with “cancel culture”. He was “cancelled” for a whole 4 days after a former partner “expressed discomfort over a sexual encounter”.

    Even ignoring whatever the vague encounter was, most people can handle 4 days of being ignored without turning to suicide, so there was obviously more going on.

19. A young man killed himself because he was dealing with his consequences – Hardly fucking cancel culture is it

20. > expressed discomfort over a sexual encounter

    Well that covers a pretty wide bloody range.

21. The tragic outcome in this scenario underscores the urgent need for a more structured and compassionate approach to handling sensitive issues on university campuses. While accountability is crucial, the method by which it is pursued should be carefully considered to ensure it does not devolve into a punitive, mob-like atmosphere, which can sometimes occur in highly charged environments. It’s vital to recognize that justice and support should be extended to all parties involved in such complex situations. Universities should implement robust, fair processes that allow for thorough investigation and support mechanisms for everyone affected. Rather than relying on public opinion or social ostracism, which can escalate quickly and leave lasting damage, we should advocate for resolution avenues that prioritize mental health and rehabilitation over punishment. Responding to allegations with a measured and structured approach could prevent the devastating consequences of a “lynch mob” mentality, where the rush to judgment can sometimes lead to irreparable harm. If an act is indeed unforgivable, it should be dealt with through formal, legal channels and not through social exile or harassment. This way, we uphold not only justice but also the integrity and supportive nature of our academic institutions.

22. NGL I was expecting this to be like “,guy tells rude joke” or “guy explains why he likes trump, gets ostracised commits suicide” etc not this…..

23. >writing to friends expressing “remorse for his actions and a belief that they were unintentional but unforgivable”

    I know false accusations are a problem but from this kinda sounds like he did it

24. The poor person who had the courage to speak up and now getting indirectly blamed for his suicide by mainstream media…

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26. If cancel culture existed, the USA wouldn’t have just elected a convicted felon as president.

27. If he was affected so much that made him take his own life, then he might NOT be a perpetrator. Abusers don’t usually feel guilty or threatened by “cancel culture”. At least, not this much

28. So the kid “unintentionally” sexually assaulted someone

    His friends distanced themselves from him

    He took his own life.

    That doesn’t seem like cancel culture to me. It seems as though his friends heard something about him that changed their view of him and they distanced themselves from him.

    My friend was SA’d by her boyfriend at university. We all heard it happen, we tried to stop it and he got so, so violent. We distanced ourselves from him. Would we have been to blame if he had done something to himself? You can’t force people to remain friends with someone that they no longer like.

29. Wow. These comments are insane.

    Someone KILLS THEMSELF after being “ACCUSED”. Not found guilty, NOTHING, we know NOTHING about what happened. The quote; “unintentional but unforgivable” means nothing, you know why? He was being ostracised to such a degree he took his life, NO MATTER WHAT HE DID, he is going to feel like it was unforgivable since, that’s how EVERYONE else acted. You know the whole thing about torture being ineffective people they will just say whatever you want to hear, similar concept.

    A young man is dead, who we have no information on, no information on what happened, and all any of you want to do is act like he was a convicted rapist who deserved it. Get help. I hope you are spoke of in the same manner when you pass on.

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