Sir - I am the President of the student body of Keble College, Oxford University, and am writing in response to an article that featured in your paper [Mail, Student] regarding Keble and in particular its bursar, Mr Roger Boden.
I am deeply angered by the news that both the college and Mr Boden have been found against by an employment tribunal and subsequently branded 'racist'.
As someone who deals with the college administration (including Mr Boden) on a daily basis, and as an Asian, I can wholeheartedly say that in my dealings with them my ethnicity has never been an issue.
I believe it to be extremely inaccurate to describe Keble in such a way and further believe Mr Boden to be one of the most welcoming and supportive people I have come across during my time at Oxford, with no doubt in my mind as to his open attitude towards people of all creeds and races.
Coming from a state school myself, and being Asian, I am concerned about the damaging impact that articles about Oxford being a 'racist' institution can have on readers, particularly as the University has mounted such a large drive to counter any such misperceptions. This very summer, Keble College has an access day for ethnic minority students to encourage them to go into higher education and apply to Oxford.
I would like to take this opportunity to stress that Keble is a community which prides itself on being made up of a diverse range of people - staff and students alike. I fully support Mr Boden and the college's rejection of the findings of the tribunal, an opinion also shared by other ethnic minority members of Keble, and hope that it continues in its fair and just treatment of all its members, sadly something the tribunal was unable to recognise.
Mohsin Zaidi JCR President, Keble College, Oxford
Dear Sir,
I am dismayed by the tone of reporting by Rob Lewis and the purported refutation by Mohsin Zaidi regarding the findings of racism against Keble, and cannot let it go unchallenged. Rob Lewis does a disservice to journalism by engaging in editorialising and asking Diamond Versi to respond to issues already adjudicated by a tribunal.
His role is not to retry or cross-examine Mr Versi but to report the story; he is free to criticise the decision and/or the process but to ask Mr Versi to again prove his case is inappropriate and unfair. Mr Versi, as required by law, has proven his case and does not need to do so again in the pages of a newspaper. The response by Mr Zaidi is an embarrassingly naive piece of claptrap.
How he can be so unequivocal is beyond me; he believes himself an 'authority' on the matter; he is no such thing. Mr Zaidi, without being privy to the legal proceedings, comes out swinging against the unanimous findings of the Tribunal. Certainly, he is entitled to criticise but he is no position to refute findings of fact, at least not in such cavalier and logically suspect a manner.
For example, Mr Zaidi claims that he personally has never suffered racism at Keble or at the hands of Roger Boden; further, neither have his minority friends. And that is sufficient to prove his case and besides, he adds, Mr Boden is so helpful and nice. Granted, but that does not preclude Mr Boden from acting in a racist manner. Granted he may treat Mr Zaidi and friends with due respect, but that does not mean Mr Versi was accorded the same respect.
Moreover, a college bursar has little authority over students but a great deal of power over staff, as evidenced by the fact that Mr Versi, an employee with 14 years service, was restructured out of a job. Mr Zaidi's logic is really quite untenable. Mr Zaidi has not experienced racism at Keble; his ethnic friends have not experienced racism at Keble; therefore racism does not exist at Keble. However, faulty logic is not the last of Mr Zaidi's sins.
He continues his tirade by accusing Mr Versi of 'exaggeration' (how does he know this?) and of 'headline-grabbing' and causing damage to his 'own community'. There are many reasons why blaming the victim is particularly offensive; not the least is that it allows the offender to deflect/avoid responsibility: it is not the offender's fault that Mr Versi has suffered racism; he suffered racism because he is Asian, and so it goes. Mr Zaidi deplores Mr Versi for publicising the matter.
What does he want Mr Versi to do, shut up like a good chap and accept racism? I, for one, am pleased that Mr Versi fought back. *Mr. Zaidi would do well to recall the history of those who fought back; it is quite possibly why Mr. Zaidi is where he is today. In this era of human rights and anti-discrimination laws it is rare for racism to be visible, particularly in professional settings. Racism mutates into many forms and can be hidden, institutionalised, or systemic; there does not even have to be intent for an action or policy to be racist (i.e. hiring policies which do not take into account changing demographics can have exclusionary effects). It is disappointing that Keble sees no need for an enlightened approach. Instead, they have elected to blame the victim and deny the existence of racism. By all means appeal the decision but do take a long hard look in the mirror.
In this era of human rights and anti-discrimination laws it is rare for racism to be visible, particularly in professional settings. Racism mutates into many forms and can be hidden, institutionalised, or systemic; there does not even have to be intent for an action or policy to be racist (i.e. hiring policies which do not take into account changing demographics can have exclusionary effects).
PARNESH SHARMA CENTRE FOR SOCIO-LEGAL STUDIES ORIEL COLLEGE
* Passage in maroon edited out by The Oxford Student