Two Black students have spoken out after being suspended from the University of Central Lancashire for sharing details of racist incidents on campus.
Drama students Elizabeth and Jemima posted online about their white peer who had a racial slur – the N-word – and swastika written across his chest during a drinking game.
The viral posts followed complaints to the university after they were allegedly ignored despite being flagged three months ago, the pair told The Independent.
Responding to this, university leaders told the Black students on Monday that they had been suspended on for bringing the organisation into disrepute through their social media post while an investigation into the racism complaints against their white peer remains ongoing.
Writing on Instagram last Friday, Elizabeth attached a photo showing a male student with “I hate n**s” and a Nazi symbol both written in red lipstick, along with images of the same student dressed in blackface in a school play, accusing university staff of failing to take action.
“Honestly I’m not coping very well, the thought of losing my degree and being expelled is so scary, especially if we don’t get justice then we would have done all this for nothing. The whole situation is very anxiety-inducing and nerve-wracking; it’s just good to see that we’ve got so much support (from people online),” Elizabeth said.
“Staff members failed in their safeguarding duties, particularly towards Black students like us who witnessed the student’s behaviour and raised concerns about its racist nature.
“I am shocked by the nonchalance of everyone involved, from the tutors, the students, the perpetrators and the uni itself. People turning a blind eye and preferring to ignore blatant racism, instead of confronting it and taking the appropriate steps.”
“The university failed to do anything about our complaints about both incidents, prior to us writing about it on social media,” she added.
While pointing out the university’s statement of anti-racist solidarity, posted on its website after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the students said that staff members ought to make good on their pledge to support its Black students by taking swift action to address the complaints.
“We must be upfront and recognise that racism exists in society and work together over a sustained period of time to eradicate this,” an email sent to the university by Jemima on 30 March reads. “As a Black student, I am asking that you take this matter seriously”.
Though the university was informed by the students of their intent to go public about the issue if staff did not address the matter, they did not indicate that it was in breach of any rules, the pair said. According to the institution’s guidelines, student behaviour which “results in the damage of its reputation” is prohibited.
The unnamed University of Central Lancashire student claimed the words were drawn by his girlfriend, who is Black, and insisted: “I had no control over what was written.”
He said the incident happened after the woman was asked to “write the most offensive thing possible” as part of their drinking game, and said he did not consent to the photo.
Speaking to The Independent, Jemima said that, like Elizabeth, she disappointed with the university’s response but rather “densensitised” to its “continued” failure to effectively challenge racism that takes place among its students where her previous complaints about other matters have not been addressed.
“This is a slap in the first and not what I hoped would come out of this. The university was made aware of this issue, we reported it in line with their policy and no action was taken until we, essentially, called them out publicly,” she said.
Lancashire Police has confirmed the incident has been reported and is currently being investigated.
A spokesperson said: “At the University of Central Lancashire we do not condone any form of racism, harassment, bullying or hate crime and our ethos is for everyone to treat each other with respect. We take matters such as this very seriously and have been carrying out a number of investigations into all aspects of this case.
“As soon as we were made aware of the issue we took immediate steps to investigate.
