Comments on: British University Cuts Ties With Uganda Affiliate Over Anti-Gay Bill (UPDATED) http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2013/01/08/52500 News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric Wed, 22 May 2013 22:49:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Jim Burroway http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2013/01/08/52500/comment-page-1#comment-224429 Jim Burroway Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:39:22 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=52500#comment-224429 That's worth an update. Thanks. That’s worth an update. Thanks.

]]> By: Bose in St. Peter MN http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2013/01/08/52500/comment-page-1#comment-224417 Bose in St. Peter MN Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:23:35 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=52500#comment-224417 Thanks, Jim... of course, right after hitting the Post button, I came across the <a href="http://vu-live.vu.ac.ug/uploads/PressRelease/VU%20Press%20Release%208%20Jan%202013.pdf" rel="nofollow">Victoria U press release</a>, which is much more specific about the reasons for ending the partnership: "Under both UK and Ugandan law discrimination on a variety of grounds is prohibited; however there are fundamental differences between the two nations’ respective laws regarding equality and diversity, which cannot be reconciled. After seeking legal guidance from both UK and Ugandan lawyers, Victoria University and University of Buckingham have concluded that as the laws of Uganda and UK presently stand, Victoria University cannot comply with both sets of laws." It also discounts my hunch about tensions between Buckingham and Victoria/Edulink, citing shared commitments by all parties to "highest standards." Thanks, Jim… of course, right after hitting the Post button, I came across the Victoria U press release, which is much more specific about the reasons for ending the partnership:

“Under both UK and Ugandan law discrimination on a variety of grounds is prohibited; however there are fundamental differences between the two nations’ respective laws regarding equality and diversity, which cannot be reconciled. After seeking legal guidance from both UK and Ugandan lawyers, Victoria University and University of Buckingham have concluded that as the laws of Uganda and UK presently stand, Victoria University cannot comply with both sets of laws.”

It also discounts my hunch about tensions between Buckingham and Victoria/Edulink, citing shared commitments by all parties to “highest standards.”

]]> By: Jim Burroway http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2013/01/08/52500/comment-page-1#comment-224393 Jim Burroway Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:11:40 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=52500#comment-224393 Now you see? This is why I love BTB readers. Thanks for the deep dive. Now you see? This is why I love BTB readers. Thanks for the deep dive.

]]> By: Bose in St. Peter MN http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2013/01/08/52500/comment-page-1#comment-224389 Bose in St. Peter MN Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:09:45 +0000 http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=52500#comment-224389 Indications are that the U of Buckingham was a major player in the launching of Victoria University, which opened in mid-2011. One of the promotions at the Victoria website is, "Why fly to Europe when there are UK degrees next door?" And, Buckingham is one of only two UK orgs listed as "Associated Institutions." Edulink, owner of Victoria, is based in Dubai; self-described as a "global educational services company," it has "a significant presence in the UAE (Dubai & Ras al Khaimah), England (London) and Uganda (Kampala)," and is fairly young. (A managing director named Edulink as a startup as of 2007 in his LinkedIn profile.) The collaboration between Buckingham and Victoria didn't appear to even be much about LGBT issues. Buckingham's founder, in the early 1970s, is hailed as a libertarian. In the UK, the school offers a 2-term course, "Sex & Gender in the Legal Process" taught by a "barrister and a well-known writer and broadcaster on feminist issues," but there doesn't appear to be a deeper gender or LGBT studies curriculum. The 2011 announcement mentioned only that Buckingham would support "undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in subjects such as accounting, computing and business." So, the big picture strikes me -- while citing the "constraints on freedom of speech" in the proposed Ugandan law as the driver of the withdrawal from its significant contributions to Victoria, I wonder if Buckingham also found the 2-year collaboration with UAE-based Edulink (where gay sex is prosecuted) to be unworkable. Indications are that the U of Buckingham was a major player in the launching of Victoria University, which opened in mid-2011. One of the promotions at the Victoria website is, “Why fly to Europe when there are UK degrees next door?” And, Buckingham is one of only two UK orgs listed as “Associated Institutions.” Edulink, owner of Victoria, is based in Dubai; self-described as a “global educational services company,” it has “a significant presence in the UAE (Dubai & Ras al Khaimah), England (London) and Uganda (Kampala),” and is fairly young. (A managing director named Edulink as a startup as of 2007 in his LinkedIn profile.)

The collaboration between Buckingham and Victoria didn’t appear to even be much about LGBT issues. Buckingham’s founder, in the early 1970s, is hailed as a libertarian. In the UK, the school offers a 2-term course, “Sex & Gender in the Legal Process” taught by a “barrister and a well-known writer and broadcaster on feminist issues,” but there doesn’t appear to be a deeper gender or LGBT studies curriculum. The 2011 announcement mentioned only that Buckingham would support “undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in subjects such as accounting, computing and business.”

So, the big picture strikes me — while citing the “constraints on freedom of speech” in the proposed Ugandan law as the driver of the withdrawal from its significant contributions to Victoria, I wonder if Buckingham also found the 2-year collaboration with UAE-based Edulink (where gay sex is prosecuted) to be unworkable.

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