Some academics "concerned about woke activism and cancel culture" are grouping together under the name Hypatia. Sociologist Mark Elchardus also joins the collective. 'Complaints will be carefully investigated.' According to the academics, it was the suspension of two UAntwerpen employees last summer that caused the bucket to overflow. According to Rector Herman Van Goethem, the pair had made 'unacceptable statements', including about students with Moroccan roots. Critics of the suspension, however, stressed that the staff members did not know they were being filmed. The footage was distributed illegally. Meanwhile, Van Goethem reported in Knack, the duo is back at work. For linguist Astrid Elbers and lawyer Leo Neels, who had started a petition for the employees, that incident prompted the creation of Hypatia. That collective describes itself as a group of academics "concerned about the threat to academic freedom and freedom of expression posed by woke activism and cancel culture. **Safe spaces** In an opinion piece for Knack, the collective points to an incident surrounding a lecture series on trans people at UAntwerpen. That set-up came in for criticism, including the choice of speakers, the use of words in the posting and the images used. According to Hypatia members, the incident shows "how universities trample on freedom of expression and academic freedom in their convulsive attempts to want to be safe spaces. The collective goes broader than Antwerp University alone. Core members include criminologist Marc Cools (UGent), vascular surgeon Dimitri Aerden and Paul Cliteur of Leiden University. The latter is known in the Netherlands as a former senator for (but still a sympathizer of) Thierry Baudet's far-right Forum for Democracy, whose conspiracy theories stir Dutch politics. Sociologist Mark Elchardus also pledged Hypatia's support. 'Here in our country, too, we are catching signals that make us anxious regarding academic freedom. We want to warn about what is possible, but also have the ambition to grow into an initiative where people can go when they feel their freedom is being curtailed. Notable: on Hypatia's website, visitors can also visit a hotline. 'Would you like to report a woke incident?' it says. 'Or do you have another question or comment? You can do so here'. Such a thing may not be without controversy - critics will soon see in it a kind of "click line. But according to Elchardus, the hotline, which has yet to take shape in practice, is a "starting point. 'Complaints will be carefully investigated. The intention is that we learn from them: how can we set up procedures that guarantee academic freedom? **Language and Literature** According to Walter Weyns (UAntwerpen), sociologist and author of Wie wat woke?, the grouping is by no means the first of its kind. "Organizations of people concerned for academic freedom have also formed in the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Hypatia explicitly mirrors the originally American Heterodox Academy, which was co-founded by famed social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Weyns can understand the motivations of Elchardus and co. 'There is no real organized movement that wants to curb academic freedom, but there is a feeling that it is more difficult today to broach sensitive topics. That threatens the core of the academic atmosphere: the openness of thought'. Just this week, controversy arose at the University of Amsterdam around a statement made by a social scientist. In an opinion piece for a university magazine, he called non-binarity (not choosing male or female as a gender identity) a "pseudoscientific" phenomenon" and "empty hype. The university distanced itself from the employee's statement, several students questioning his suspension. According to the sociologist, the pressure comes mainly from the younger generations. 'Through their media use, they get a lot of input from the Anglo-Saxon world, where identity debates live more strongly. Something like this becomes quickly apparent in directions like Language and Literature, where there is increasing criticism of the canon, which is said to be too little female, colored or non-binary'. Besides understanding the grouping, Walter Weyns also has reservations about Hypatia. 'There is a strong possibility that the ranks will now be closed and there will be a kind of partisanship or rigidity. The risk of a deaf ear increases. It's a naive position, but let's try to listen to each other first'. https://www.knack.be/nieuws/belgie/groep-academici-lanceert-meldpunt-voor-woke-incidenten/