Is St Andrews a racist university?

It's one of the places I'm considering applying to right now, but I've heard about A LOT of instances of racism there, like blackface at student parties and a lot of students casually using racial slurs. My brother went up there to see a friend a couple years ago and one of the students said he was surprised to see a brown person. So I just wanted to ask how bad it really was

It's one of the places I'm considering applying to right now, but I've heard about A LOT of instances of racism there, like blackface at student parties and a lot of students casually using racial slurs. My brother went up there to see a friend a couple years ago and one of the students said he was surprised to see a brown person. So I just wanted to ask how bad it really was

It's one of the places I'm considering applying to right now, but I've heard about A LOT of instances of racism there, like blackface at student parties and a lot of students casually using racial slurs. My brother went up there to see a friend a couple years ago and one of the students said he was surprised to see a brown person. So I just wanted to ask how bad it really was

This youtube post by a student there is informative. It also gives further links https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4k_oGR4ua8

she is correct about the lack of diversity (to be expected from a high-ranking uni in remote East Fife) but the "prevalence of racist incidents" makes out there is more than just the odd story once every 3 years of one student saying one thing in a private Whatsapp group.

it's simply masturbatory self-flagellation and its disappointing that students like this who get turned on by the idea of racism are actually making the diversity problem worse by scaring off black students

Hmmm...clearly, someone does have a sexual fetish about racism. But it's not the maker of that video.

it is.

Do you think making a sexual slur against a young woman on a social media platform is somehow commendable?

i genuinely believe fetishisation of racism partly explains her attempts to portray the university as some kind of racist hellhole, she clearly gets a kick out of this because it is preposterous to claim that st andrews (one of the most politically correct places in the world) has a racism 'problem'. if there was no problem, the left would have nothing to keep themselves stimulated.

Stupid things happen at all universities. Exeter, supposedly the most left-wing university in the United Kingdom had a time where swastikas were being painted on people's doors. You can't judge an entire an entire university by a small minority of people.

What would she possibly gain from exaggerating what she knows about St Andrews and racism? Suggesting she gets a ‘kick’ out of it is, quite frankly, odd. I understand a degree of what you’re saying in that she may have just been riding the wave of racial ‘calling out’ back then after the murder of George Floyd. As a black person I found some people simply performing well, jumping on the ‘trend’, not really aware of the gravity of the situation and/or their words. So if THAT’s what you mean then sure, I’d be inclined to somewhat agree that she could be saying things for the sake of it and throwing out big statements like ‘St Andrews has a PROBLEM’ because everyone else is about various institutions but that also doesn’t mean that what she said about St Andrews was completely wrong.

I wholeheartedly disagree with “if there was no problem, the left would have nothing to keep themselves stimulated”. It’s, in the nicest way possible and I don’t mean to offend, ridiculous. There’s SO much happening in the UK that the left are kept ‘stimulated’ by, racism, institutional racism racial injustice is only one major battle. I’m sure the vast majority of the left would be pleased if racism was entirely non-existent and that wasn’t something they needed to occupy themselves with anymore.

You mean well and (from seeing you in threads) you seem to love St Andrews and that’s obvs lovely, you’ve helped me out with some things about the uni (which I really appreciate!)
I’m considering applying there as I don’t really believe St Andrews is an overwhelmingly racist institution (imo Durham is and I’ll 100% stand by that) and you were a key force behind that decision but....come on.

sorry if i caused offence but i do sincerely believe that this youtuber was, as you say jumping on a trend... there are almost 10,000 students in the town, you will hear of maybe 1 (verbal) incident every couple of years and i am so so angry that she is quite happy to put off black students from applying and make st andrews' diversity problem worse by portraying these as a "problem" the uni has, rather than making it clear they are isolated incidents she has made a list of going back to 2011 !

@justjas33 Good luck. Would really like to know how you find St Andrews as I have a young black relative who would like to apply there.

Stupid things happen at all universities. Exeter, supposedly the most left-wing university in the United Kingdom had a time where swastikas were being painted on people's doors. You can't judge an entire an entire university by a small minority of people.