Durham University has been accused of seeking a "systemic cover-up" after students walked out of an after-dinner speech last year.
Students walked out of the dinner at South College during columnist Rod Liddle's speech about gender in December 2021.
They accused the university of failing to support marginalised students but Durham University said it will undertake a review into its policies for inviting external speakers following the row.
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According to a report from student newspaper Palatinate, during his after-dinner speech Mr Liddle said that when it comes to gender, the left is against "science or pure facts".
At the time, South College principal Professor Tim Luckhurst was criticised for calling students "pathetic" for walking out, even though most were unaware that Mr Liddle would be speaking when they chose to attend.
Prof Luckhurst stepped back from his duties but has since resumed them at the start of the academic term.
In January, the university refused to comment on the result of its investigation into the row, and would only say that it would be "inappropriate to comment on what remains a confidential and ongoing process".
But on Thursday, Durham released a statement saying it will now review its processes for engaging with external speakers, adding that it does not intend "to exclude any speakers from our campus".
Durham confirmed that it would not be publishing details of Prof Luckhurst’s involvement in the incident, but said that as a university it "must constantly strive to establish a culture which is underpinned by respect and by our values".
It said this included "taking pride" in how ideas were discussed and debated, "including those that we may find challenging".
"We should ensure that as an educational institution we allow our students opportunities to openly debate so that ideas and views can be heard and contested respectfully," the statement added.
Tom Allen, master of Grey College, will now undertake a review of how "we engage external speakers for college-based events" but this will not lead to excluding speakers from the university.
"Rather, the focus will be on providing clarity as to how students and the wider college community are engaged, including the appropriateness of the forum for any speaker and ensuring appropriate information is provided in advance to attendees," the university said.
Students said the university response smacks of a "systemic cover-up".
South College student Niall Hignett, an organiser of protests on the issue during post-offer open days, told the PA news agency that the university had said it would deal with the matter "swiftly".
"And what we’ve actually seen is delay, delay, delay," he said.
"To be honest, I’m really disappointed with the statement. It’s frankly embarrassing."
Mr Hignett said the issue was not about free speech, "it’s about student welfare and wellbeing – because the event wasn’t an academic setting; there was no room there for academic debate".
He added that in the university’s statement, multiple references were made to freedom of speech.
Mr Hignett said: "Our main contention now is that Tim Luckhurst was shouting at students – he showed himself to be incredibly unprofessional."
He said the review of the existing investigation was "a complete abdication of responsibility" and a "systemic cover-up".
In their statement, the university management had shown themselves to be "puppets of culture war proponents" while failing to support marginalised students, he added.
