Warwick University vice-chancellor urged to resign over handling of rape threats in student group chat

Hundreds of students marched to protest against the university's handling of complaints

Hundreds of students marched on the campus in a protest against the university's handling of the rape threats. (Rebecca Brown)

Students have called for the vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick to resign unless he can explain why two young men who made rape threats in a Facebook group chat were allowed to return to their courses.

As hundreds marched on the university’s campus to protest against a 10-year ban being lifted on the pair, Warwick's student union president called for Stuart Croft to step down unless urgent action was taken to address the institution’s handling of the investigation.

“Students expect your resignation if you cannot meaningfully explain the situation, show no remorse, or no commitment to learning and changing," Liam Jackson wrote in an open letter.

Eleven male students were suspended after the messages, which included the remark “sometimes it’s fun to just go wild and rape 100 girls”, were brought to the attention of the university last year.

The institution confirmed earlier this week that the two students who were suspended after exchanging racist, antisemitic and misogynistic exchanges in a group chat will not return.

One was given a lifetime ban after a disciplinary inquiry by the university and two were banned for 10 years, although that was later reduced to a year on appeal.

Another pair were excluded for one year. Three received a range of other disciplinary penalties, including fines and other actions.

The case against one student was found to be “not proven” and two of the originally accused students were exonerated at an early stage of the process.

But the anger among the university community remains strong and hundreds took part in a protest calling for a life-long ban for those involved and an inquiry into how the complaints were processed.

Meanwhile, ahead the march hundreds of alumni and former staff signed a separate open letter to the university’s management calling for significant regulatory and policy change.

Lucy Mooring, a sociology student at the university who attended the demonstration, told The Independent: “There is much more to do and we deserve much more from Stuart Croft and the university. We want to completely overhaul the disciplinary process and make sure this never happens again.”

Ellen Butler, an English Literature student at the university, said: “We are unsure whether the men in question have merely chosen not to return to the university, or if the university has told them they are not allowed back onto campus. There’s a big difference.

“The women who were directly affected by this group chat were subjected to aggressive questioning about their sexual histories, which should never have happened, and should never happen again.”

Just before the protest got underway, the university announced that it would launch an independent review of its disciplinary and appeals processes.

Following a meeting of the University Council, David Normington, the University of Warwick’s pro-chancellor and chair of council, said: “We agree with the vice-chancellor that the behaviour of the men concerned was abhorrent and unacceptable in any circumstances. “We are deeply sorry and understand the distress this has caused the victims of this abuse and the wider impact which we know has been felt by our students and our staff

He added: “We have agreed that in collaboration with the Senate, there will be a thorough, external and independent review of our disciplinary and appeals processes. We will ensure that the views of our community are widely sought and the progress of this review will be communicated on a regular basis.”

The university does not tolerate abuse, harassment, prejudice and unacceptable behaviour, Mr Normington said, and safety and wellbeing of students and staff remains a priority.