Warwick University has come under fierce criticism after four men banned from campus for allegedly swapping racist messages and making jokes about raping women are reportedly being allowed to resume their studies.
The Russell Group university had banned two students for 10 years each, and five students in total, after homophobic and antisemitic slurs were discovered in a Facebook group chat called “Fuck women, Disrespect them all” last June.
According to copies of the messages circulated by concerned students online, one of the exchanges read: “What do we do with girls? RAAAAAAAAAAPE’,” with one man saying “I love Hitler. I hate n***** and Jews and Corbyn. Racism is class”.
One woman who was targeted told the BBC said she felt “terrified at the prospect of having these boys in my seminars”.
Student newspaper The Boar revealed that the decision to take the students back was effectively made after an appeals process over the summer drastically reduced the 10-year punishments to one year.
In a letter seen by the BBC, a university official apologised for not informing students of the appeal’s outcome sooner – citing “my delayed summer break”.
It means the students may be allowed to return in the 2019/20 academic year.
One of the two women who received the letter in October last year, said she was speaking out about it now because she wanted to highlight what she describes as “horrendous” treatment by the university, the BBC reported.
In a response to HuffPost UK, the university said it was unable to comment on individual cases.
A spokesman said: “We are unable to comment further on individual student discipline cases, but we can assure you that the University has a robust student discipline procedure that includes a detailed investigation, and consideration of the case by a Committee of senior academic staff and Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers.”
Social media users have condemned the decision on social media, with some tagging posts with #ShameOnYouWarwick.
One Warwick student criticised the university on Twitter for putting fees and league table performance ahead of student welfare, following the decision.
“A group of Warwick uni lads make a chat about how they want to rape you and mutilate girls you know, admit that they’d do it again and still get invited back with open arms the following academic year. Nah I’m mad.
“Warwick uni doesn’t care about its students’ wellbeing, it cares about league tables and the 9k a year that verbally abusive and potentially violent students can bring them,” she said.
“I’ve been quiet for a year but I’ve fully had enough.”
Eleven male students were initially suspended by the Russell Group university, after a formal complaint was made about three men, with almost 100 screenshots of the conversations provided.
“Grenfell” and “Taxi Jew” were among the display names of members, which included senior members of societies, according to student newspaper The Boar.
One of the five students chose to withdraw following the University investigation last year.
The content of the messages was condemned “in the strongest possible terms” by the Warwick University Student Union.