Islamophobia and racism at the University of Leicester

Published: 5th April, 2019

Leicester UCU has heard of a recent racist attack against members of staff at the Brookfield site. These members of staff were subjected to a verbal racist attack, including a death threat, when leaving Brookfield. We are appalled to hear of this, and have shared our concerns with both the President of the Students Union Amy Moran and Acting Vice Chancellor Edmund Burke. We are sure they will share our outrage.

Leicester prides itself on being a diverse and multi-cultural city. Racism, including Islamophobia which we believe this attack to be, has no place in our city, and most definitely no place at the University of Leicester. The University has a responsibility to care for staff and students, and we encourage the the University of Leicester to consider the following suggestions:

• Introduce security points at both entrances to Brookfield and improve lighting at Brookfield
• Provide a chaperone service, including safe points to await a chaperone, between Brookfield and the main campus, if wanted, during working hours

We would like to remind all staff and students that they can contact security 24/7 on control@le.ac.uk or 0116 252 2888 or the emergency services on 999 in the case of an emergency, ongoing situation.

Note: members may be interested in the University of Leicester Centre for Hate Crimes project: ‘Standing Together Against Hate’, more info can be found at: https://le.ac.uk/hate-studies/standing-together