Mar
Our Response to Coronavirus Related Racism
Last week the University were informed of a racially motivated attack on Chinese students outside of their accommodation, which was also reported by the Daily Echo here. SUSU has a zero tolerance approach to racism, and we have been working with the University in our capacity to support the students affected. The University have been working with the Leader of Southampton City Council and the Chinese Association of Southampton. Today, they published their response here.
A few weeks ago when the virus had reached a peak in China we worked closely with the Chinese Student Scholars Association to raise awareness of the fact Coronavirus-related racism is unacceptable, fundraise for Wuhan, and to remind our community to treat each other with respect. The University and SUSU signed an open letter of support in solidarity with our Chinese community, which you can find here.
SUSU have put many things in place to both prevent and react to incidents of racism. SUSU provides training for all our clubs and societies throughout the year around Welfare and Diversity, and we are currently reviewing that training to add in more things about how not to be a bystander. We also have a Report and Support tool, which you can use to tell us about incidents and get advice. This is still working as normal.
We have an Expect Respect policy which was created this year, which you can find at susu.org/aboutus.
We urge everyone to use this time to practice compassion and kindness, and remember that everybody is affected by the current situation. SUSU are still operating, working from home and working with the University and local community to ensure our students are protected, advocated for and represented.
If you have any concerns about Covid-19, you can visit SUSU’s FAQ’s here, and the University’s FAQ’s here.
If you have any queries, questions please get in touch with us! For wellbeing related queries please get in touch with vpwelfare@soton.ac.uk.
For any other concerns please email president@soton.ac.uk.
The University are asking all queries for them to go to ssc@soton.ac.uk.
Tags: Chinese Student Scholars Association, CSSA, Expect Respect, report and support