Senior academics have slammed the University of Buckingham after the vice-chancellor was ousted from his £229,000-a-year job over ‘anti-woke’ views.
Prof James Tooley was suspended from his post on October 11 after the University recieved a number of ‘serious allegations’ made by the vice-chancellor’s estranged wife.
His suspension was announced in an email to 4,000 staff and students and Tooley was evicted from his house on the university grounds.
It has now emerged that the ‘serious allegations’ made by Prof Tooley’s wife Cynthia, 42, related to him owning a junior air rifle, which does not require a firearms licence, and details of a relationship he had with a young woman in India.
His estranged wife is reported to have raised complaints to the university about a former relationship the professor, now 65, had with a woman in her twenties while working in Hyderabad in his fifties.
It is claimed he helped paid the student fees of the woman he had the relationship with.
A group of senior academic staff say the suspension was fuelled by a history of animosity between Prof Tooley and the chair of the university council, Mark Qualter.
In a legal letter sent to the university, which was seen by The Telegraph, they say the allegations made by his wife were seized upon by Qualter and university management, who had wanted Prof Tooley out for some time.
The professor has spoken out publicly against cancel culture and is a free speech advocate.
University of Buckingham vice-chancellor James Tooley, 65, has reportedly been suspended after claims of an overseas relationship with a young woman whose student fees he helped fund
One staff member said Prof Tooley’s suspension was a way of damaging him because they do not like him.
They claimed university higher-ups think he is too libertarian, too Thatcherite and too right wing.
Earlier this year, he unveiled a new course on the ‘woke’ movement, with related MA and PhD programmes – and he has also criticised Cambridge University for ‘discriminating’ against privately educated white boys due to diversity targets, while branding a drive to decolonise the curriculum as ‘dangerous’.
The senior academics called for the suspension to be lifted and claimed Mr Qualter had not followed due process in the suspension of Prof Tooley.
They also urged Mr Qualter to recuse himself from an investigation into the allegations which is being handled by the university’s nomination and governance committee, which he also chairs.
Senior academics raised concerns over a history of animosity between the chair of council and the vice-chancellor,
They said that makes it more important that the university’s governance regime is correctly applied and that the suspension and Investigation were carried out in a fair and impartial manner.
They also claim Prof Tooley was suspended by Mr Qualter without consulting the wider university council.
The University of Buckingham, the country’s oldest private university, was founded in 1976 and granted university status seven years later
Buckingham University has appointed Joseph O’Brien KC to lead an independent investigation into the allegations.
Sources say the allegations were jumped on by senior staff who were critical of Prof Tooley and those who want to close the door on the university’s reputation as a free speech institution.
A Buckingham University spokesman said: ‘As previously stated, the university was informed of a number of serious allegations against our vice-chancellor.
‘To protect all parties involved, including the vice-chancellor himself, he was suspended following due process and legal advice to allow for an independent investigation. This investigation is being conducted by an independent leading KC and will be completed as soon as possible.
‘Although the process has been complicated by the number of allegations made, the university is absolutely certain about the integrity of the process followed and this has been verified by external legal counsel.’Cynthia, a Nigerian-born entrepreneur, TV personality and mother-of-two, married him after a whirlwind relationship in February 2022.
The couple parted over the summer, the Daily Mail has previously reported.
He asked her to move out of Ondaatje Hall, the Vice Chancellor’s grace-and-favour residence on the banks of the River Ouse, before she blocked him on social media and they now communicate via lawyers.
Announcing Prof Tooley’s suspension in October this year, university managers sent out a letter reading: ‘I am writing to inform you that the Vice Chancellor has been suspended following a number of serious allegations…
University of Buckingham VC James Tooley and his wife Cynthia outside 10 Downing Street
‘It is our intention to carry out an independent inquiry to ascertain the veracity of these claims.’
According to the letter, chief financial officer David Cole, chief administrative officer Chris Payne and pro vice-chancellor Harriet Dunbar-Morris have been asked to act as interim co-heads of the university.
Prof Tooley responded by issuing a statement through the firm Griffin Law rejecting the claims, saying: ‘The allegations made against me are baseless and malicious.
‘I look forward to being vindicated in due course, but in accordance with the University’s processes, I am unable to comment further at this time.
‘I remain, however, a committed advocate of free speech and academic freedom.’