- Entertainment nights sparked furious row after being included in freshers’ guide
- The events coincided with Black History Month causing further outrage
- Loughborough University’s African-Caribbean Society and its Ethnic Minorities Network both condemned the plans.
Students provoked a racism row after organising a ‘slave night’ and ‘slave auction’ as entertainment for new undergraduates.
The events were included in the freshers’ programme at Loughborough University’s Faraday Hall, along with ‘cowboys and Indians’ and ABC (anything but clothes) evenings.
They were due to take place on two consecutive nights in October – coinciding with Black History Month – but provoked an outcry from students.
The events were included in the freshers’ programme at Loughborough University’s Faraday Hall, along with ‘cowboys and Indians’ and ABC (anything but clothes) evenings. The university building is pictured (stock photo)
The university’s African-Caribbean Society and its Ethnic Minorities Network both condemned the plans.
Organisers at the halls of residence have now apologised and withdrawn the ‘racist’ events amid the backlash.
A second-year civil engineering student from Africa, who did not want to be named, said: ‘This has caused a lot of disgust among the ethnic minority students.’
Other students shared their outrage on Twitter, with one writing: ‘This is disgusting.’
The university’s African-Caribbean Society said its members were appalled at ‘such displays of ignorance and blatant disregard for coloured people’.
The committee behind the events posted an apology on its Facebook page, admitting that ‘Slave Night is an unacceptable and racist title’.