Dealing with racism & discrimination

First points of contact

The collegiate University is a complex and devolved system. This means that reporting incidents of racial harassment and discrimination can seem overwhelming and confusing. You have a range of options available to you.

If you experience racial harassment you can report to a number of people within the University as well as seek support. In the first instance, you may want to contact:

  • Your College Tutor
  • Your College Discrimination and Harassment Contacts
  • A welfare or liberation rep on your JCR or MCR
  • A trusted individual such as a friend, your DoS or the College Senior Tutor
  • The Student Advice Service

Members of staff in the College will be able to signpost you to the relevant in-College support and reporting systems. You can find information about the University-wide reporting processes on the Student Complaints website, coordinated by the Office for Student Conduct, Complaints & Appeals. If you would like counselling or to talk to someone after an event, you can find details of more general support services on the welfare support page.

If you’ve experienced racial or religious discrimination in the past or at present, whether it be microaggressions or prejudice/harassment, the Racial and Religious Discrimination Adviser service is available for all matriculated students from marginalised racial or religious backgrounds.  The service offers emotional support in the form of a safe space to explore the experience, and unpick the covert or overt discrimination, as well as coping strategies that support you in processing the experience and trauma of discrimination. It also offers practical support if you wish to report the incident to your college, department, police, 3rd party organisation, or the Office for Student Conduct, Complaints and Appeals (OSCCA).”

Options for reporting

Would you like to address the issue informally?

Guidance on doing this can be found on the Newnham College Combating Harassment page. Remember that members of the College or a trusted friend will be able to support you with this. There are many reasons people might take this route, including wanting to resolve the issue swiftly, but remember this is a personal choice.

Would you like to address the issue formally within College?

If you do this within College (because you a reporting about an incident that took place within College or concerning members of College) you can contact your College Discrimination and Harassment Contacts/Advisers or your Tutor. You can also contact other staff such as your DoS, depending on who you’re most comfortable reaching out to. It’s important to note that you will be supported regardless of whether you are reporting a case that involves a student or a staff member and the College can make adjustments to ensure you are not disadvantaged in any way by having reported an incident.

Would you like to informally report a student incident outside of College?

The Informal Complaint Procedure for Student Misconduct is a reporting process that often results in students coming to an informal agreement moving forward. It also means that no record of the report will be kept on a student’s record. Find out more on the Student Complaints website.

Would you like to formally report a student incident outside of College?

The Student Disciplinary Procedure is a reporting process that initiates a formal investigation. If a breach of a Rule of Behaviour is admitted by the student or found by the Student Discipline Officer or Discipline Committee then sanctions or measures can be imposed upon the student. Find out more on the Student Complaints website.

Would you like to report a member of staff to the University?

A student will never be disadvantaged for raising a genuine complaint. If you raise a complaint about a staff member then the University and/or College will ensure that you will not be assessed or taught in a small group with that member of staff. A student has options about how to raise a complaint about a member of staff, outlined on the Student Complaints website.

If you submit a complaint, you will then be invited to a meeting with a member of the Office of Student Conduct, Complaints and Appeals to discuss the next steps. At no point during the investigation will you be expected to be in the same room as the staff member and it is very unlikely that you will need to attend a hearing. You will always be informed of the outcome of your complaint and any actions that directly affect you.

Would you like to report anonymously?

Reporting anonymously doesn’t lead to any particular outcome or action but can be useful to help individuals process their experience, as well as share anonymised data about such incidents. You can find out more and anonymously report to the University via the anonymous report webpage as well as the End Everyday Racism reporting tool (more details about this project below).

Instances involving members of the public

If you experience racial harassment or discrimination from a member(s) of the public outside of a University building, you may want to report this incident to the police. You can do this by calling 101 if immediate support is not necessary, or 999 in the event of an emergency. You can also report instances of hate crime to the police online

If you decide to report to the police, they are likely to signpost you to external relevant support services. Don’t forget that members of College such as your Tutor and College Discrimination and Harassment Contacts are also able to support you after such events and during the process of reporting.

End Everyday Racism

The End Everyday Racism project is both a reporting and a research tool. It aims to develop our understanding of everyday racism with numeric, descriptive and geographic evidence, in order to build a collective case to support anti-racism advocacy and social justice activism at the University and further afield.

The project’s main purpose is to work towards institutional change by encouraging students to anonymously share their stories of racism. Reporting is anonymous, so students and staff who use it may want to consider gaining support via other networks e.g. College.