Oxford University is accused of creating a ‘culture of cover-ups’ and silencing students as woman who claimed she was victimised and bullied by a history professor says institution’s complaints process is ‘unfit for purpose’
- Student accused university of ‘culture of cover-ups’ and said ‘cronyism’ favoured
- Woman claims she was ‘victimised and defamed’ by Oxford history professor
- She alleged that the ‘staff protect each other’ by ‘covering up’ for one another
- After making a formal complaint about the member of staff, she was told the investigation would take ‘no more than two months’ – but it ended up taking 10
- Oxford university dismissed student’s allegations after lengthy investigation
Oxford University has been accused of creating a ‘culture of cover-ups’ and silencing students so they can ‘quash your complaint’ after a woman claimed she was ‘bullied’ by a member of staff.
The woman, who does not wish to be named, slammed the institution’s complaints process as ‘unfit for purpose’ after claiming she was ‘victimised and defamed’ by a history professor.
Her allegations were dismissed by the university following an investigation by the institution.
The student made an official complaint to the prestigious university’s Humanities Faculty after claiming she was ‘bullied’ and later issued the professor – who she says had a ‘legal duty of care’ – with a ‘cease-and-desist letter’.
However, she alleges that Oxford university threatened her with disciplinary action if she did not go through the official complaints process.
After making a formal complaint about the member of staff, she claims she was told the investigation would take ‘no more than two months’ – but it ended up taking 10.
She is now calling for the formal complaints process to be externally regulated so as to keep the process fair and stop other students from having the same experience.
Oxford University has been accused of creating a ‘culture of cover-ups’ and silencing students so they can ‘quash your complaint’ after a woman claims she was ‘bullied’ by a member of staff. Pictured: The view over the city rooftops from the University church of St Mary spire in Oxford
Speaking to the Oxford Mail, she said: ‘It is a complete waste of time and energy – it is only meant to quash your complaint, shut you up and whitewash the institution.
‘It is a culture of cover-ups, it’s all in the Twilight Zone.’
The student claimed there is a culture of ‘cronyism’ and staff are all ‘friends’ who ‘look out’ and ‘cover up for one other’.
She added: ‘They are all friends, and they are all mates – they all cover up for each other and I am just the idiot there to pay my fees and keep quiet.’
Oxford City Council’s Shaista Aziz, who campaigns nationally for equality and violence against women and girls, said that there needs to be a complaints procedure that is ‘robust, fair and independent’.
She told MailOnline: ‘No institution should be left to investigate itself – especially over the type of serious complaints and allegations being put forward by this individual student.
Oxford City Council’s Shaista Aziz (pictured), who campaigns nationally for equality and violence against women and girls, said that there needs to be a complaints procedure that is ‘robust, fair and independent’
‘The student has reached out to me to share her experiences as have other Oxford students. It’s vital that a complaints procedure is robust, fair and independent.
‘For a complaints system to work it must be independent and focused on analysing the huge discrepancy of power between students and staff and the wider institution that is the university of Oxford, it is only through analysing the huge imbalance of power that a fair process can be developed.
‘It’s clear from the number of students raising their voices that there is an issue. It’s imperative not only on individual colleges but on the University of Oxford to start the work to implement and fund an independent complaint system.’
MailOnline have contacted Oxford University for comment.
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