A sit-in protest is being organised at the Engine Shed – a student union venue – on Friday in opposition to the University of Lincoln Students’ Union (SU).
It follows the SU’s decision to suspend the Conservative Society’s social media accounts after they tweeted a link to a report which criticised the university’s approach to freedom of speech.
Lincoln MP Karl McCartney has also described the SU’s actions as “intolerant, illiberal and totalitarian”.
The SU have defended the suspension saying there was a “suspected breach of the code of conduct” and “freedom of speech is a fundamental value of the Students’ Union”.
The event is called the UoL Free-Speech/Repeal the Conservative Society Ban Protest.
The Facebook event stated: “This is a peaceful protest so anyone who deems to cause damage and destruction will be not respected as part of this protest.”
The organiser of the event, Hannah Barr said: “We are simply asking the student union to repeal their ban on the Conservative Society as all societies should have the right to open and grown-up discussion and engagement on their policies.
“If the SU is able to silence one society for their views, we deem this as a silencing strategy to all societies who may see issues with the way Lincoln SU policy is carried out.”
Currently over 100 students have said they will protest with a further 165 (at time of writing) expressing an interest in going.
The protest is scheduled for Friday March 10 between 1pm and 5pm.