Sunday, 30th May 2010

Professor Michael Driscoll, Vice-Chancellor of the University;
Professor Waqar Ahmad, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise;
Professor Margaret House, Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic; and
Professor Ed Esche, Dean of the School of Arts & Education,

The members of the Moral Sciences Club sent a letter on the 11th May
to express their dismay at your proposal to close the Philosophy
Department at Middlesex, the highest performing both of all Middlesex
University’s Departments and of all British ex-Polytechnic Philosophy
Departments and Faculties. Since that letter, your attack on academic
freedom has intensified with the suspension of Professors Peter
Osborne and Peter Hallward, Dr Christian Kerslake, and students Ali
Alizadeh, Nicola Goodchild, Johann Hoiby and Hoi Yen Voong.

It seems to us that, finding no valid grounds on which to subdue the
peaceful campaign against the plans for closure, the executive have
brazenly taken the most draconian line of action available to them. We
find this action appalling. Not only is it an affront to the staff and
students of Middlesex, who have done nothing beyond peacefully
expressing their opposition to closure; it also threatens to leave yet
another permanent scar on the academic reputation of Middlesex
University.

We call for the suspended students and members of staff to be
immediately reinstated. We also reiterate our continued opposition to
your plans to close the Philosophy Department, and urge you again to
reconsider your decision. Finally, we express our support to all the
staff and students of Middlesex University.

Yours sincerely,

Harry Adamson
Maike Albertzart
James Angel
Dr. Constantinos Athanasopoloulos, FHEA
Lucy Baldwin
Claire Benn
Professor Simon Blackburn
Adrian Boutel
Dr. Alex Broadbent
Dr. Jeremy Butterfield
Tim Button
Sam Cane
Adam Caulton
Amanda Cawston
Dr. Angela Chew
Dr. Ben Colburn
Professor Tim Crane
Matthew Duncombe
Ray Filar
Lorna Finlayson
Thomas Forster
Professor Raymond Geuss
Owen Griffiths
Xi-Yang Guo
Dave Browne
Dominic Haldane
Luke Hawksbee
Katharine Jenkins
Dr. Richard C. Jennings
Zoe Johnson-King
Professor Matthew Kramer
Ashley Lane
Lois Lee
Dr. Hallvard Lillehammer
Steven Lydon
Edward MacDonald
Lucy Manning
Steven Methven
Polly Mitchell
Emil F. L. Moeller
Sebastian Nye
Alexis Papazoglou
Dr. Lubomira Radoilska
James Rees
Dr. James Russell
John Shirley
Dr. Peter Smith
Rhiannon Smith
Dr. Florian Steinberger
Dr. Adam Stewart-Wallace
Dr. Tim Storer
Emma Taylor
Emily Thomas
Christine Tiefensee
Dr. Nick Treanor
Dani Welch
Morgan Wild
Nathan Wildman
Dr. Richard Woodward

___________________________
Faculty of Philosophy,
Sidgwick Avenue,
Cambridge, CB3 9DA