Exeter University expels the law students behind the racist comments

Exeter University has expelled a number of the law students who wrote wildly racist comments on a WhatsApp group.

The law students had sent messages on a group chat called the "Dodgy Blokes Soc" where they used racial epithets to refer to their peers. Two of the students were on the committee of the university's Bracton Law Society. Matthew Bell was the society's General Secretary and Alex Crawford was the pro bono officer. The other students exposed were Ash Chandraharan, who had been running this year to become the society's General Secretary, first year law student Bailey Grant and second year law student James Cranstone.

Exeter University launched an internal investigation in March, when the WhatsApp group messages were exposed by a fellow student. A university spokeswoman told RollOnFriday that the investigation has now concluded and that "the outcomes have included expulsions, suspensions and other significant sanctions", subject to appeal. She did not divulge which punishments were handed out to each student. She added that the university "does not tolerate any form of racist, sexist or bigoted behaviour and is committed to eradicating any instances of discrimination and harassment that may arise".

Screengrabs of the chat were exposed in March on Twitter and Facebook by Exeter Uni Law student Arsalan Motavali who said "I refuse to stand by and let such people who speak in these terms go on to recruit at future law firms" while "cowering behind their phone and talking like this about people that are part of the society they represent".

In the chat, the students had frequently used terms such as "n***er", "coon" and "monkey". In one exchange, Bell suggested organising a social "where we invite pure ragheads and turn them away". Grant replied that they should hold the event in South Africa as it would mean "we could add in gang rape" and they could "buy blacks in bulk". Crawford replied "you only need to go as far as Mauritania to get slaves. Much cheaper".

The next General Secretary of the Bracton Law Society

This week the university's vice chancellor Steve Smith sent an email to the university's students saying that the "behaviour of the kind exhibited by some members of the Bracton Law Society will not be tolerated by the University". He encouraged "anyone else who been subject to, or witnessed, racism, bigotry, abuse or harassment to please come forward".

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Comments

Can we offer a prize to the first person who posts a comment claiming that the students should not face any form of censure and that the whistle-blower is to blame? And can the prize be dismissal from the "legal assistant" position he currently holds?

Well, I think it's a shame that young men now face an uncertain future, no matter what they have said. As a qualified Legal Executive working in Thanet, I have heard worse in firm meetings.

It took them long enough.

@Anonymous 10:11 - Well we are all very grateful that it isn't up to you. People who choose to be racist, discriminatory and frankly so blatantly bigoted deserve an uncertain future. If you have seen or heard worse in firm meetings, one wonders why they are still ongoing.Talk about harm to the reputation of the profession.

Why are people like this? Sorry, end of bank hol Saturday and had a few gins but, really, n***er? Raghead? Why? Why be like this? It's just so disappointing. Pfft. *Hic*

@ Jadis - Either they think saying the unsayable is the same as original thinking or else they're racists. Either way they're not fit fodder for even conveyor belt ambulance chasers and there should not be a place for them in the legal profession.

@ Anonymous 17:48 If you read the comment above 10:11, you might think that the poster was just trying to win a prize and perhaps wasn't being serious. The clue may have been in their location.

Mmm. They were clearly just trying out some extremes of expression in an anonymous "safe space" for a laugh like some kind of swearing competition to see who can out-do the other for racial offensiveness. No-one's shown that they actually directed these insults at anyone - but they were silly enough to be identifiable and get caught. Future ref - if you want to do that kind of thing, use 10minutemail, a VPN and an anonymised chatroom, and don't use any personally identifiable information.

Where do they make that clear? Are these the kinds of "jokes" that you want to see from your lawyer? They are in their 20s, not children. They should have known better that to make those kinds of comments, not find a better way to hide them.

@12:09 Why are you making excuses for these people? Were you one of them? It wasn't something they did for half an hour. It was their default form of communication. They made racial abuse and misogyny into a hobby. Even if one accepts your explanation then they are clearly far too immature and irresponsible for a career in law but frankly your claims are so thin and so utterly unsupported that they are verging on contemptible.

It sounds as if 12:09 thinks that the problem is not having or expressing these sentiments, but being caught doing so. Fortunately the vast majority of the profession profoundly disagree with you.