Student makes racism complaint to College
Student angered by being stopped and asked for ID
A black student has raised a complaint of racism after being asked to show identification by security officers following a call made to College by a member of staff who thought the student may not be a member of Imperial.
The complaint was raised near the end of last term, and to Felix’s knowledge the student has not received a reply to the letter he send via email – it is now over 6 weeks since the original complaint was raised. The student said: “It has now been over a month and I have not heard from anyone. Clearly this matter is not being taken seriously.”
The student was asked to show identification, and believes that the reason that they were picked out as not belonging to the university was due totheir skin colour.
Felix contacted Terry Branch, Head of Security, who gave the following statement: “Given how accessible parts of the Campus are to members of the public, the Security team routinely ask to check staff and students’ College ID cards in restricted areas as part of their duties. On this occasion, security officers responded to a call from a member of staff who had seen someone she didn’t recognise in her building. The staff member was on alert for people she didn’t know following a number of thefts in the building recently. As is routine following a call like this, security attended, checked the individual’s ID card and apologised for any inconvenience caused. The complaints procedure isn’t managed by our team so I can’t advise on this.”
Felix also contacted Denis Wright, Dean of Students, who confirmed that he was aware of the complaint. He said: “Security have discussed this with [the student]. If the student has made a formal complaint and it is not resolved at the initial stages it will come to me to consider together with the Academic at Stage 3 of the Complaints Procedure.”
Due to the differences between complaints, it is sometimes unclear in the College Ordinances (the documents that govern how College must be run) exactly what stage the complaint is at. It seems as though the complaint has not reached Stage 3, the final stage, yet.
The student noted that Terry Branch and the officers who stopped him behaved very professionally.
In the letter to College the student highlighted the reason for being upset. “I find it incredibly stressing, especially at this point in the term, that I can invest loads into a University and have folks think I do not belong, especially when I am using a public space for University students!”.
The incident started with the student going about their normal routine. In the letter to College this is explained as “I entered the Alexander Flemming building and briefly stepped into the medic’s student union to heat up my food as I have done daily for the term. I noticed, however the room was being set up for interviews, so I was more prompt than usual in using the microwave and ate outside the medic’s union in the common cafeteria since the medic’s union was soon to be occupied. After having my lunch I re-entered my home department’s lounge (Skempton building) waiting for my afternoon lectures to begin.” At this point the student was stopped by two Officers and asked to show identification. At the time the student was with a group of peers who were all white and European. In the letter, the student said: “I even considered the way I was dressed and concluded it did not draw unnecessary attention to me”.
In the letter, the student also expressed dismay at how difficult the procedures in place were, saying: “I feel it is unfair Imperial College of London with all of its accolades require that I see multiple personnel, set up number of appointments and wait an undetermined amount of time for someone who might be able to affect change see me. As I write this, I am missing lectures because of the message our policy sends not only to me, but to my peers and anyone who may be randomly visiting: if you do not look like us, you are subject to harassment. I do not know how many others in our community have been negatively impacted by our policy.” The letter finished with: “Such negative impact may lead to Alumni not wanting to donate or volunteer with Imperial at all after their time is done. I urge you to consider making a change. I have not offered a solution, but have only stated the problem. My job as a student is to be a student. I believe the solution should come from Staff and Administration.”
The student did not wish to be named. However, they asked for a note at the end saying that if anyone has been affected by a similar issue contact Felix to be put in touch.
