Universities are institutionally racist, says vice-chancellor

Professor David Richardson, chair of Universities UK’s advisory group on stamping out racial harassment on campuses and vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia, said there was evidence of systemic issues that disproportionally affect students from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, writes Aamna Mohdin for The Guardian.

Speaking on BBC Three’s documentary ‘Is Uni Racist?’, he said: “There’s mixed experiences, but many aren’t good. There is a lot of evidence that points towards universities perpetuating systemic racism, being institutionally racist and I have acknowledged that on behalf of the sector. Institutional racism is when there are systemic issues that are impacting disproportionally on particular members of your community, which need to be dismantled.”

The documentary, presented by the journalist Linda Adey, investigates the experiences of four black students at British universities, with a focus on what happens when complaints of racist abuse are made. Students who complained about such incidents said they were locked out of the process, left dissatisfied and felt their universities had failed them. They were frustrated that they were often not allowed to know the outcome of their complaints because of data protection laws, and said their experiences had made a significant impact on their psychological well-being and educational performance.
Full report on The Guardian site