Posted by Wolfson College Student Association branded ‘Maoist thugs’ over their reaction to leaking of ‘white supremacy’ workshop for freshers
Cambridge students’ union launches ‘witch hunt’ for student who leaked mandatory racism classes
Students’ union officials at a Cambridge University college have launched a “witch hunt” for the leakers of mandatory race classes for freshers, in a bid to have them ousted.
A bitter war of words has broken out at Wolfson College with student leaders accusing those they represent of being “very cowardly” and “sowing division”, in the latest woke row to flare at Oxbridge.
It came after students at the college approached The Telegraph with screenshots of compulsory anti-racism workshops all new students were told to attend this autumn term.
The online classes claimed “whiteness is centric” as part of “white supremacy” in modern British society, and covered microaggressions, privilege and intersectionality.
Students unhappy with the Cambridge college’s “wokest of the woke” direction then told this newspaper of another row in which their peers complained that a matriculation photographer “made them feel unsafe” by asking “gentlemen to help the ladies” dismount a raised platform in ceremonial gowns.Advertisementhttps://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.490.0_en.html#goog_1724334007Advertisement : 13 sec
Now the Wolfson College Student Association (WCSA), the students’ union at the mostly postgraduate college, has vowed to find and ban the leakers from the union’s official online forum, where the furore has centred.
Leak ‘sowed division, uncertainty, and distrust’
Those responsible will be removed from the 450-member WCSA Facebook group, the main noticeboard where vital updates, events and welfare issues are communicated to students since the pandemic forced messages online.
Students have reacted with fury at the “witch hunt”, while the Free Speech Union said a “student mob” had taken control of the college, which counts several country leaders among its alumni.
Scott Dunleavy, the WCSA president, told students in an angry statement last week: “It is disappointing to see that some members of this community want to sow division, uncertainty, and distrust amongst their peers.
“It is even more disappointing that they choose to do this entirely anonymously. It is frankly very cowardly, and I would expect better of the students here. I feel it necessary to add that we know the identity of at least one of the students who is leaking these screenshots, and that they will be removed for breaking the confidentiality of the group.”
Mr Dunleavy also doubled down on the compulsory race workshops. “WCSA is proud of the initiatives it has put forward over the past academic year, including its anti-racism workshops, and we fully intend to build upon these in the coming year,” he said.
“We are proud to support our entire community and address and action issues that affect us all.”
‘College authorities should be embarrassed’
Sources inside the college said the union initially banned an innocent student and some students had started a rebel group in protest. One said: “They post lots of welfare issues on the Facebook group that never reach the student mailing list, such as recent drink spiking events at the university. How can they create two tiers of students and deny people this information?”
Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “The college authorities should be embarrassed. They’ve relinquished their leadership role and the result is that a student mob is now in charge.”
He added: “Why would anyone want to go to Wolfson if the college is now run by a group of Maoist thugs in short trousers?”
In the mandatory race workshops, students were told microaggressions were brief, everyday interactions that left people feeling devalued, such as saying “you speak good English”. Another PowerPoint slide claimed: “Google search images are white people unless you specify otherwise.”
Another row in October saw students write a formal letter of complaint accusing a matriculation photographer of sexism for asking “gentlemen to help the ladies” at the end of the onboarding ceremony. They claimed this created a “targeted atmosphere of inequality” and punctured a “safe space for all genders” on campus.
Wolfson College and its student association did not respond to requests for comment.