Andrew Lilico and non-woke universities

The Daily Telegraph carried an opinion piece by Andrew Lilico, the Executive Director and Principal of Europe Economics, last Saturday (27th November, 2021) reflecting on the growth of "wokeness" tests in U.K. universities which require students to provide "correct" answers to questions on progressive topics. He also commented on the development of attempts to deny platforms within universities to speakers whose views were regarded as controversial by those who disagreed with their positions. His remedy was not to impose new rules on existing universities requiring them to protect free expression but rather to create new "non-woke" or more tolerant institutions. Students could then choose which type of institution they wished to attend. At present, the U.K. has 133 universities across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales with several hundred thousands of students. I am definitely not persuaded that more universities can be created or funded under anything like the present financial arrangements. Nor would it be right to allow institutions to deny access to their campuses to people with contentious views. The whole point of universities as seats of learning and guardians of higher culture is to encourage debate on matters of fact or principle in dispute so that staff and students may learn from such exchanges. "Come, let us reason together" remains a sound approach in my view.