Students at Loughborough University have apologised for organising a slave auction during freshers’ week and cancelled the event after it sparked outrage on campus.
Students from the university halls of residence Faraday Hall tasked with laying on entertainment for incoming students had planned a number of events, including a ‘slave night’, a ‘cowboys and indians’ themed night and an ABC (anything but clothes) party.
Concerns were brought forward by the university’s African-Caribbean Society and the Ethnic Minorities Network. Both organisations pointed out these events fell within October’s Black History Month.
The African-Caribbean Society issued a statement condemning the events.'We are wholeheartedly against such displays of ignorance and blatant disregard for coloured people […] To make matters worse the event was scheduled to take place during our month of black appreciation.’
The events were not sanctioned by the university and were organised by students themselves. Speaking to the Guardian, the university’s Students’ Union made it clear it had nothing to do with the scheduling.
'This type of event is not appropriate and has no place at the university,’ a spokesperson told the Guardian. ‘It was not a students’ union event. Working with the university, we will sit down with students on their return and explore why this event was proposed and what we need to do better in the future so that this does not happen again.’
The students behind the scandal have apologised. In a
posted on Facebook they said: ‘Slave night is an unacceptable and racist title. As a committee we are deeply saddened to realise that we’ve caused offence and regret that entirely. We take full responsibility for our actions and have removed the original timetable. We will be renaming the event to something more appropriate.’
This is not the first time a university has come under fire for freshers’ week plans. Last year at Exeter an investigation was launched after students were pictured in t-shirts that bore racist slogans including ‘Don’t speak to me if you’re not white’ and ‘The Holocaust was a good time.’
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.