The University of Exeter has expelled a group of law students accused of writing racist messages in a private WhatsApp group conversation.
The comments were made public in March when law student Arsalan Motavali - who set up the so-called Dodgy Blokes Soc group - shared screenshots of some of the messages online, prompting an internal investigation by the university.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
One of the students involved immediately issued a “sincere apology for his inexcusable comments”, the BBC reports. The student added: “I will not attempt to excuse and deny any of the statements I have made. The comments, which I shall not repeat, are inexcusable and undeniably wrong.
“I would like to make it publicly known that I do not honestly believe any of the things I have said.”
A spokesperson for the university announced this morning that the investigation, carried out in conjunction with the Students’ Guild, “has now concluded, and the outcomes have included expulsions, suspensions and other significant sanctions. These outcomes are subject to appeal.”
It is unclear how many students have been expelled.
The university’s vice chancellor, Professor Sir Steve Smith, added that there was “no place” at the institution for “unacceptable racist, sexist and bigoted behaviour”.
The expulsions “show our absolute commitment to take serious action against those whose behaviour is fundamentally at odds with the commitment to inclusivity, tolerance and respect that lies at the heart of everything we stand for”, he said.
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump lambasts crime, but his administration is cutting gun violence preventionThe Explainer The DOJ has canceled at least $500 million in public safety grants
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Anti-racism policing unit is accused of racismSpeed Read Police Race Action Plan criticised for treating minority staff members as ‘troublemakers or difficult’
-
Will Emmett Till ever get justice?In Depth Black teenager was abducted, tortured and lynched by a group of white men in 1955
-
Texas’s abortion law: the Republicans get their way, at lastSpeed Read SB8 authorises private citizens to sue anyone who performs, ‘aids or abets’ an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy
-
Changing legal gender: what’s new and how does it work?Speed Read Cost of a gender recognition certificate application is reduced from £140 to £5
-
America’s bloodiest state votes to ban the death penaltySpeed Read Virginia has executed more than 1,300 people in its 400-year history
-
FBI accused of ‘fake’ background check on Donald Trump Supreme Court nomineeSpeed Read Democratic senator calls for ‘proper oversight’ over Brett Kavanaugh investigation into sexual assault claims
-
Family of Malcolm X claims letter proves FBI and NYPD involved in his murderSpeed Read Daughters of assassinated civil rights leader demand reopening of investigation
-
Meghan Markle granted nine-month delay in Mail on Sunday privacy caseSpeed Read Duchess of Sussex had applied for summary judgement in battle over letters sent to her estranged father
