Skip to main content

charlie-spargo
6th April 2016

Racial abuse reported in Warwick halls of residence

Faramade Ifaturoti, a first year biomedical sciences student posted a photo of her bananas—which had racist names written on them—to Twitter
Categories:
TLDR

A student at Warwick University appears to have been the victim of racial abuse from a flatmate or guest to her halls of residence prompting the university to launch an investigation.

Faramade Ifaturoti, a first year biomedical sciences student according to her Twitter bio, tweeted a photo yesterday of a bunch of bananas with two racial slurs scrawled in marker pen on them. “Just entered the kitchen and look at what one of my flatmates has done. I am extremely disgusted” she posted on her now-private Twitter account.

The post went viral very quickly, gaining thousands of retweets. An hour after posting the photo, the university responded, tweeting: “we’re really sorry you’ve had to experience this, it is completely unacceptable – please DM us your email + we will escalate”.

Many, including Ifaturoti herself, have criticised Warwick for failing to react quicker. She tweeted “I’m highly disappointed that it took a Twitter escalation in order for you to respond.”

Warwick Students’ Union released this statement regarding the incident: “Warwick SU has a zero-tolerance policy on racist behaviour. We unequivocally condemn this shocking and disgusting act, which should clearly have no place in either our University or society at large.

“We have reached out to the student affected by this episode and have contacted the University to offer further support. Should a formal complaint be raised regarding a specific individual’s conduct, the SU will of course treat it as a matter for urgent disciplinary action.”

Warwick’s student newspaper, The Boar, broke the news of the abuse. The Warwick Anti-Racism Society, who are also offering the student support, told The Boar: “The Warwick Accomodation handbook has absolutely nothing regarding racism, yet the institution will happily shout about diversity and champion signing the Race Equality Charter.”

A university spokesperson told The Independent: “We are aware that a racist incident has been widely reported on social media. The university is investigating this as a matter of urgency.”

By Tuesday night, the hashtag #WeStandWithFara was a top trend in the United Kingdom to express support and solidarity with the student.

 

Since this incident, a number of student newspapers from across the country have come together to find out more about the extent of racism on UK campuses. Please fill in this survey if you are a University of Manchester student.


More Coverage

University wins climate award for its continued commitment to sustainability
Two new 24/7 bus services have launched across Greater Manchester with scope for additional services in the future
The local and student communities come together to fight for local establishment Café Blah after they were left locked out of their premises by their landlords 
Following a trial in late September, Ms Dana Abuqamar, a UoM Graduate has won her appeal in court against the revocation of her student visa