For those who have followed this saga from the start, what follows will be of no surprise.
You may recall that I e-mailed Portsmouth Uni regarding the honorary award to TCT. Their response was one of denial that it was for aviation exploits and a polite FO and stop bothering us reply.
Dear ######,
Apologies for the delay coming back to you.
We are sorry that you feel disappointed the University has awarded an honorary degree to Tracey Curtis-Taylor. However, we did not make this award to her on the basis that she had completed solo flights or explicitly because of her activities within aviation. The award was primarily due to her longstanding commitment to outreach activities that support good causes such as services charities, education and young people.
Best wishes,
########
and
Dear ######
As we have already stated, the University made this award to Tracey Curtis-Taylor not only on the basis of her flights and other activities within aviation, but also based on her enduring commitment to activities in support of outreach and education, her work with charities and with young people, which we accede. While we appreciate you have strong views about whether she is a suitable role-model, they are your own. We have no further comment to make on this subject.
Kind regards
#### (###### is on leave this week)
I have now had a response to my FOI request. The University have failed to meet the requirements of the request but have been open in what they responded with. The most damning piece is the letter from the Vice Chancellor. See attached document "190 Annex B Invitation Letter pdf".
Dated 16 Feb 2016, and signed by the Vice Chancellor para 2 states:
"
The Committee would be delighted if you would agree to attend and receive an honorary degree in recognition of your recent inspirational 13,000 mile solo flight from Farnborough to Sydney. There is much admiration for your outstanding achievements, both in your recent flight and your 2013 flight between Cape Town and Goodwood."
So, there you have it, in their own words, signed-off by the VC, an award for SOLO flights. No mention at all of any outreach, role model, STEM encouragement. I conclude that the award, like the Bill Woodham Trophy, was issued on a lie and should therefore be removed.
Have a read of the attached and you can see that the information supplied to Portsmouth has come from Tim Kelly / TCT.
Thoughts please Ladies and Gentlemen.