‘Racism victim suspended by university because her abuser feels intimidated’

The victim says the university are making black students out to be aggressive

A university student has been suspended by De Montfort University after she reported an incident of racist abuse as the abuser now feels "scared and intimated." Elizabeth Sawyer was invited out by coursemates who sang the racist nursery rhyme "Eeny meeny miny moe," including the line "catch a n***** by its toe." She said one of the students later called her a "n*****" to her face on campus. Elizabeth shared her story of being abused online, calling out her university for their lack of action against the abuser, to which the university responded by insisting that they were taking the allegations "extremely seriously" and would take "immediate and appropriate action." But a month after the incident, Elizabeth told the university newspaper The Demon that De Montfort had suspended her. She said she had received a letter from the university revealing a complaint that she had used "abusive and offensive" language towards the coursemate and that pending an investigation into the incident, she would be suspended from campus. Elizabeth told The Demon: 

"The university has suspended me because the two racist white girls feel “scared and intimidated” by seeing me so now they are making sure the black students are not going to retaliate so I have been suspended until further notice. ‘I am so angry because if I wanted to threaten them or fight I would have fought since February. They are making the black students look aggressive when that is not the case at all."

Addressing the social media outcry against the university's actions, a spokesperson for the university said:

"We completely understand people’s concerns re what’s been posted on Twitter since last night about the suspension of one of our students. ‘It is an extremely sensitive issue. There are a number of aspects which need to be explored."