Under-fire Cardiff v-c calls out ‘fake news’ in epigenetics row

The under-fire vice-chancellor of Cardiff University has dismissed criticisms of her as “fake news”, as staff described “tense” relations at the institution.

Wendy Larner, who has faced intense scrutiny since announcing plans to cut 400 academic jobs in January, hit out at a recent article in Nation.Cymru which quoted claims suggesting that she believed poverty may be caused by genetics.

The article quoted a Substack post which in turn quoted a 2018 interview with Larner in which the social scientist flagged the rise of epigenetics, the study of how cells control gene activity.

“If things like poverty have a genetic explanation, the taken-for-granted approaches and conceptual frameworks we use as social scientists to explain poverty will need to be reworked,” said Larner, who has led Cardiff since 2023.

The Nation.Cymru article quoted a spokesperson for the Cardiff branch of the University and College Union, who described Larner’s comments as “disturbing”.

“It is shocking that someone in…Larner’s position should say such seemingly offensive and insensitive things, but sadly our members are now used to being shocked by her conduct,” the union said.

In what has been seen as an unusual step, Larner responded to the accusations in an all-staff email, seen by Times Higher Education, claiming that her words had been “grossly (and wilfully) misinterpreted”.

“To claim that I believe there is a link between genetics and poverty is an extremely personal attack that is unacceptable… I am discussing epigenetics (not genetics), arguing that should a proven link be made between epigenetics and poverty, we would need to rethink the existing related theory,” the vice-chancellor writes.

Larner says that it was “deeply disappointing” that the union had chosen to “endorse” the article.

“Scrutiny is to be expected, however, this false report (fake news if you will), and its subsequent endorsement by UCU must be a one-off. We are better than this,” Larner adds.

The debate comes amid mounting anxiety about the impact of Cardiff’s cuts on the Welsh higher education sector, with courses in ancient history, modern languages, music and nursing among those set to be scrapped.

Staff have described the atmosphere at the university as “very tense”, and a subsequent email sent from the union to its members – also seen by THE – describes a “climate of fear” on campus.

The branch claimed that the university had threatened it with an investigation under its dignity at work policy, which seeks to prevent harassment and bullying, a move which it said it was “deeply concerned” by.

UCU also claimed that university management had not stuck to its pledge to hold meetings with unions every fortnight.

“Senior managers seem to have forgotten the massive power imbalance between themselves and the rest of us and have chosen here to play the role of victim. We stand by our claim that the [vice-chancellor and university executive board] are not worthy of our trust, and we urge all university staff to engage with our vote of no confidence,” the union’s email added.

In a separate development, Cardiff’s senate – its top-level staff forum, including Larner and other managers as well as elected representatives – passed a motion criticising the university’s planned cuts. “Owing to the lack of a clear and compelling business case, the senate is not convinced on the evidence shown of the necessity for and validity of the Academic Futures project as a path to a sustainable future for our university,” said the accepted motion.

When announcing the cuts, Larner said that it was “no longer an option for us to continue as we are” in the face of declining international student applications and increasing cost pressures.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com