A popular exhibition inviting students and staff to write about their experiences of sexual harassment was shut down by UCL management last week after a stu- dent wrote about being sexually assaulted by a member of staff.
‘WriteBack!’ was organised by the UCLU Women’s Network as part of Zero Tolerance fortnight and encouraged both students and staff to write anonymously about their experiences on the walls of the North Lodge in order to “reclaim a corner of our campus”.
Once word about the allegation spread, Vice Provost Rex Knight swiftly shut the exhibition down. This was ap- parently to ‘protect UCL staff ’ - though the only distinguishing feature of the ac- cused in the post was, apparently, the fac- ulty they belong to.
UCLU Women’s Officer Annie Tid- bury was asked to remove the post, but refused out of respect for victims’ right to be heard, offering instead to redact any words that may identify the alleged per- petrator. In a statement on the closure, Ms Tidbury said, ‘The attempt to cover up this allegation suggests that UCL pri- oritises institutional reputation over stu- dent welfare. We at UCLU stand in soli- darity with survivors of harassment and assault. We refuse to censor them.’
The Women’s Network agreed to close down the exhibition for two hours to al- low for a clarifying letter to be written by UCL expressing their concern at the ac- cusation, which would be placed next to the post. However, this compromise was vetoed by Rex Knight, who opted instead to keep the exhibition room locked in- definitely.
A UCL spokesman said: “Though temporarily closing the exhibition, in agreement with the Student’s Union, we are in no way looking to dismiss or trivial- ise these very serious allegations.”
Annie Tidbury claims that UCL man- agement “haven’t been what I’d call ‘co- operative’”, and Union insiders told The Cheese Grater that UCL management had “gone apeshit” and threatened legal action.
Tidbury said, “As soon as Rex got in- volved he decided that this wasn’t enough and that the post had to come down. Rex’s latest suggestion is that we turn the decision over to the UCL Exhibitions of- fice - no prizes for guessing who they’re going to side with... ”