Two black students have spoken out after they were suspended from a university after calling out a racist Nazi drinking game.

Elizabeth and Jemima, drama students at the University of Central Lancashire, posted online about a white peer who had the n-word and a swastika written across his chest during the booze-fuelled game.

They complained to the university three months ago but were allegedly ignored.

In response to the social media posts, the university said the students had been suspended for bringing the organisation into disrepute.

It said an investigation into the racism complaints remains ongoing.

On Instagram last Friday, Elizabeth posted a photo showing a male student with ‘I hate n****s’ and the offensive Nazi symbol both written in red lipstick, along with images of the same student dressed in blackface in a school play.

In the photo caption, she accused university staff of failing to take action.

‘Staff members failed in their safeguarding duties, particularly towards black students like us who witnessed the student’s behaviour and raised concerns about its racist nature,’ the student told The Independent.

‘I am shocked by the nonchalance of everyone involved, from the tutors, the students, the perpetrators and the uni itself. People turning a blind eye and preferring to ignore blatant racism, instead of confronting it and taking the appropriate steps,’ she added.

The students said the university should honour its pledge to support black people especially after it posted an anti-racist statement following George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

They informed uni bosses of their intent to go public and the university did not indicate they were in any breach of the rules.

According to the institution’s guidelines, student behaviour which ‘results in the damage of its reputation’ is prohibited.

The unnamed University of Central Lancashire student in the picture claimed the words were drawn by his girlfriend, who is black, and insisted he ‘had no control over what was written.’

He said the incident happened after his girlfriend was asked to ‘write the most offensive thing possible’ as part of their drinking game, and said he did not consent to the photo.

Speaking to The Independent, Jemima said, like Elizabeth, she is ‘desensitised’ to the university’s ‘continued’ failure to effectively challenge racism on campus.

‘This is a slap in the face and not what I hoped would come out of this. The university was made aware of this issue, we reported it in line with their policy and no action was taken until we, essentially, called them out publicly,’ she said.

Lancashire Police confirmed the incident has been reported and is being investigated.

A spokesperson for the university said: ‘At the University of Central Lancashire we do not condone any form of racism, harassment, bullying or hate crime and our ethos is for everyone to treat each other with respect. We take matters such as this very seriously and have been carrying out a number of investigations into all aspects of this case. 

‘As soon as we were made aware of the issue we took immediate steps to investigate. It would not be appropriate to share the details of the case nor breach the confidentiality of the individuals involved as we deal with this matter.’

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