Abertay University just banned a men's rights group and a rapper gave back his degree
44 minutes ago · 13 November 2026Share
Abertay University, Dundee. File photo. Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0
Abertay University has just apologised for letting a men's rights group speak to students.
And it says that group is banned from coming back.
The group is called Justice for Innocent Men in Scotland. JIMS for short.
Professor Liz Bacon runs Abertay as principal and vice-chancellor. She's the one who apologised, a few hours ago.
Her words: "It is clear that we got things wrong."
So what does JIMS actually do? It campaigns for men in Scotland it says were falsely accused of sexual offences.
And Abertay is in Dundee.
Now here's what led to this.
A week ago, JIMS gave a lecture to fourth-year criminology students at Abertay. A lecturer called Dr Stuart Waiton organised it. The speaker was Kirsty McDermott, from JIMS.
This wasn't even their first visit. JIMS had already spoken at Abertay once before, over a year ago. That time, it didn't have full university approval.
So how did Abertay respond at first? It defended the talk. Called it appropriate.
That didn't last.
Ellie Wilson is a rape survivor and a victims' advocate. She'd already called the decision to host JIMS deeply irresponsible. She said other survivors she'd spoken to felt disappointed and let down.
She's also said JIMS targeted her directly online before.
And the timing made it worse. One day before this lecture, the comedian Russell Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court. He got ten and a half years.
Then the renunciations started.
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Contains Dundee, its airport, the River Tay with both road and rail bridges and northern Fife, seen from altitude. File photo. Mike McBey · CC BY 2.0
Two days ago, the Scottish rapper and author Darren McGarvey, who also performs as Loki, said he's giving back his honorary degree from Abertay. The university gave him that degree, a Doctor of Letters, three years ago.
McGarvey said hosting JIMS again, one day after Brand's conviction, made it all the more provocative.
And Andrew Batchelor pulled out too. He founded Dundee Culture and had a guest lecture booked at Abertay for later this month. Not anymore.
He said he doesn't agree with the university's decision to host JIMS, given the serious concerns raised.
Batchelor started Dundee Culture back in 2013, when he was 12. He's got more than 100,000 followers now.
So Abertay moved.
Professor Bacon said the university's earlier check on JIMS didn't go far enough. She said the conduct of JIMS members and supporters since the lecture showed they lack the professionalism and integrity required.
But she was clear about one thing. This doesn't mean Abertay stops discussing fair trials, rape or miscarriages of justice. She pointed to the university's legal duty to protect academic freedom.
So the ban is on this group. Not on the subject.
JIMS answered with its own statement. It said it fully respects the university's decision not to invite it back.
But it also said something else. It was disappointed Abertay made that decision without approaching or speaking to it directly first.
So that's a group accepting the ban, while disputing how it got there.
JIMS hasn't said it's ending its campaign.
Here's what we still don't know. Whether Dr Stuart Waiton, who organised the lecture, faces any disciplinary action. And whether other universities are now looking again at their own rules on hosting controversial speakers.
Abertay has reversed its own decision once already this week.
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