This is Gillian Tett, Provost of King’s College, Cambridge. The image shows her at a Financial Times party in 2014. (Image credit: Financial Times licensed under Wikimedia Commons)
Two Fellows of King’s College have been found guilty of sexual misconduct, the classicist Prof Simon Goldhill and the geophysicist Prof Herbert Huppert.
Readers of the blog will be familiar with the Simon Goldhill Scandal (see for example here and here). His behaviour was well-known in the Classics Department and covered up. Similarly, the Herbert Huppert Scandal (see here) was an open secret at his College, Department and even the Royal Society.
In an article in The Times, Gillian Tett is quoted as saying
“I came to King’s with a personal commitment to build a community where every member is valued, protected and treated with dignity. The recent reporting has been deeply painful — for those directly affected, and for all of us who care about this community.
“I am grateful to those who have had the courage to come forward. I want them to know that they are heard, and that action is being taken. I am personally committed to ensuring that every member of King’s is treated with dignity and respect.” [Gillian Tett]
These are powerful words — and, crucially, they have been matched by action. Simon Goldhill and Herbert Huppert are no longer Fellows of King’s College.
It is hard to recall a comparable moment in Cambridge.
For years, we have heard fine words from the University’s senior leadership. What has been lacking is meaningful action — replaced instead by delay, deflection, and, so often, quiet institutional cover-ups.
We must make this moment count.
On Monday, our focus will be at Bury St Edmunds Employment Tribunal. This is another shocking case, another watershed moment.
Thanks to the principle of Open Justice, the proceedings of the Tribunal can be viewed by all interested. The witness statements and bundle will be available electronically as well. Please watch if you can, though the details are upsetting.
Cross-examination begins at 10.00 am.
11 Comments
TheResearcher · 5 June 2026 at 20:44
Where did you read that Goldhill is no longer a Fellow of King’s?
https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/people/simon-goldhill
If you infer consequence by virtue he resigned from his university post, it is not clear to me the intervention of Dr Tett on that. Regardless, I would be interested to know where Dr Tett said those words quoted in The Times, and what was her audience.
21percent.org · 5 June 2026 at 20:51
Goldhill has resigned his University position. If he has resigned his University position, he can no longer be an Official Fellow of King’s College.
He can be some other class of Fellow. For example, he can be made a Life Fellow at King’s, or a Bye-Fellow, or Senior Research Fellow, though all seem unlikely
We suspect the website has not been updated yet — let’s check next week. Our guess is the webpage will be gone.
TheResearcher · 5 June 2026 at 20:52
Note that regarding Huppert, the Times article regarding the actions of king’s explicitly says “A college spokesperson confirmed that Huppert had been subject to disciplinary measures and was “no longer a fellow or member of King’s College,” while the same was not yet said regarding Goldhill as far as I know, but correct me if I am wrong.
21percent.org · 5 June 2026 at 21:12
We’d need to look at the Statutes of the College to be sure, but our belief is that if Goldhill is no longer a holder of a University position, his Official Fellowship has ended.
Maybe some more knowledgable on the Statutes of King’s College can tell us.
Although Goldhill “resigned”, it’s obvious that he was about to be pushed.
TheResearcher · 5 June 2026 at 21:21
Yes, I understand, and I doubt that he wants any affiliation after all the negative publicity he had. My point was that it is not clear how Tett contributed to the resignation. I would be more willing to believe that he was pushed by the University so that a disciplinary action against him is no longer needed, and the University does not need to admit that they expelled him. His resignation really helped the University because, as you know, UCam can only expel students with unreasonably persistent behaviour 😉
-- · 5 June 2026 at 21:53
The bar for being a hero at Cambridge is pretty low, but I guess Tett was smart enough to see in advance where all this is going and that if she wants to survive this she needed to make clear that wherever HR, VC and Pro VC and their journey, she sure as hell won’t be joining for the ride.
SPARTACUS · 5 June 2026 at 22:50
Agree totally! She only spoke when the two King’s College fellows were already ‘dead’. Easy to be brave at that stage.
final exam · 5 June 2026 at 23:30
That’s the difference between academics and heads of house. Academics depend on the university for everything, salary, funding, everything. They have no hesitation in overlooking the murder of a student, or one of their own colleagues, out of sheer fear, hypocrisy and cowardice. That is now clear.
Anon · 5 June 2026 at 23:50
“Academics depend on the university for everything, salary, funding, everything. They have no hesitation in overlooking the murder of a student, or one of their own colleagues, out of sheer fear, hypocrisy and cowardice. That is now clear.”
Indeed.
TheResearcher · 6 June 2026 at 00:10
“That’s the difference between academics and heads of house.”
I was not yet persuaded that Tett did anything about these cases, but one thing is clear to me, if she is a hero because she intervened, not all heads of house are. Ask the Master of Christ’s College Lord Simon McDonald what he has been up to for months. Believe it or not, he is no different from Kamal Munir. One of his students was expelled for reporting misconduct of senior staff and Lord McDonald did not even contact him, while a few months before he had said this to the student:
“as I said to Professor Evans this morning, I do expect the university to investigate that complaint [the complaint from the student that was never investigated] impartially, thoroughly and in a timely manner. Clearly, that has not happened, but an external investigation might still retrieve something. I will make that point in person to Professor Munir.” Lord Simon McDonald, 2 October 2025
21percent.org · 5 June 2026 at 23:48
There are plenty of Fellows who are guilty of sexual harassment and remain at their Colleges
Eg Mary Hockaday at Trinity Hall has shown no such determination to remove such Fellows.