The Committee

I’m Lavinia, a second year studying Law at Pembroke College, and I’ve founded this Society alongside Oliver. I’ve had a keen interest in free speech since the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, the first political moment where I was old enough to really notice governments restricting debate and the media refusing to cover contentious issues. Since starting my law degree, I have become particularly interested in how the state narrows the boundaries of acceptable speech through bad-faith law making: legislation drawn ambiguously enough to expand criminal liability over time, like the mission creep of online hate speech regulation. The result is uncertainty as to where the line lies, and a chilling effect on speech as people err on the side of caution.

At Cambridge, I expected to find an escape from this self-censorial environment. I hoped to work with intellectually curious people in pursuit of truth, in an environment where ideas could be freely explored and challenged. Instead, I encountered a fiercely anti-free-expression culture on campus.

CUFSS aims to counteract this by creating a space where all views can be genuinely heard and intensively discussed: a small step towards restoring the university's original mission.

Presidency

Lavinia Rossetti
Co-Founder and President

Oliver Crossland
Co-Founder and Vice President

I'm Oliver and I am a second-year student studying History and German at Cambridge. What I value most about the university is the chance it gives to students to meet a wide range of ideas and come away with convictions that are genuinely their own, providing an intellectual foundation that can be applied in all walks of life — including to the political questions that matter most to us now.

As such my greatest concern is that the habits the university cultivates — open-mindedness, tolerance, and reason — are weakening, and with them our ability to disagree safely and productively. But I am confident that they still unite us as humans, and are not yet the exclusive preserve of one group or another. I hope that the society can appeal to this shared ground, bringing people from across the political divide back into meaningful conversation, talking about our disagreements peacefully and engaging with one another sincerely.

This is the thinking behind the Symposium, which I am excited to be setting up within the society. It will provide a room for members to read and discuss the ideas beneath contested political questions and the perspectives of peers, in an open and friendly intellectual environment that celebrates disagreement and provides the extra time to understand its sources.

Extended Committee

Freddie Bower
Events Officer

My name is Freddie and I am a second year studying History at Girton College. History teaches us that the censorship of speech is one of the first and most necessary steps towards authoritarianism. The virtues of tolerance and free expression are thus vital cornerstones of our democratic system, and they are worth defending. I believe the Free Speech Society will help encourage these values at the university, and that is why I am taking part.

Ava Foyle
Secretary

I’m Ava, a second year MML student at Caius College. As a keen languages student, I have found the manipulation of language in our current political climate to be particularly worrying. Circular definitions, misused phrases, and regurgitated slogans in place of a meaningful debate have created an ideological divide. Many arguments, particularly those surrounding identity politics, seek to use language as a tool to enforce one’s beliefs. It is from here that I believe the value of free speech comes unrecognised; if one allows their word choice to be altered in accordance with the other side of the argument, regarded “simply respectful” to do so, it is not unreasonable to presume there will be entire ideas deemed unacceptable to hold.

Benedict Braddock
Cambridge Meridian Editor

I'm Benedict, a first-year Music student at Cambridge and organ scholar at Jesus College. I'm also a poet and writer; as such, I have a deep interest in the relationship between language, tradition, and freedom. Music and liturgy have taught me that tradition is a kind of trust: something we must be free to inherit, wrestle with, and renew. I believe the freedom to speak is integral to this process. As our culture grows ever more captive to consumption and self-interest, the need for a common intellectual space in which truth can be pursued, assumptions tested, and disagreement valued, has never been greater. As editor of the Meridian, I hope to help cultivate such a space.

Rafi Gamma
Treasurer

I’m Rafi, and I have just started my second year studying law at Pembroke College. Aside from this, I enjoy rowing and acting. I’ve found that exercising one’s freedom of speech is extremely important to being a law student. However, there’s no escaping the fact that free speech is under increasing threat; you only have to look at our universities to see this happening. I hope this Society can play a part in setting this right, and send a message to all Cambridge students that there is an open forum out there for you to have your say.