4^th February 2019

School of Engineering

Statement on Recent Disciplinary Hearings

The School of Engineering wishes to reassure past, present and prospective students of its ongoing commitment to the provision and maintenance of an environment of respect, dignity and inclusion. Our students must feel safe in order to learn and work together, in the knowledge that hate speech and acts of a similar nature will not be tolerated. It remains our policy that in the event of any such incident, swift and appropriate action will be taken.

We wish to express our support for the victims of the group chat case at Warwick. The guilt of the perpetrators has not been in question and for more information about the disciplinary hearings, I refer you to a public letter from our Vice-Chancellor and a later update. We feel that it is essential for the University to ensure that the victims of the group chat are fully supported such that they feel able to return and complete their studies at the University without fear of further difficulties. The School of Engineering has not been involved in any aspect of these disciplinary cases and appeals, but we recognize that our students are part of the wider Warwick student community and we have been in touch with senior management at Warwick to express our concern.

The School of Engineering at Warwick has always strived to generate a safe, inclusive and respectful environment. We can all control how we interact with each other and by placing mutual respect and dignity at the centre of this process we can hope to generate a more positive feeling within the School and the University. This is the challenge to us all. We encourage any students who need support in relation to this, or any other incident, to contact their personal tutor, departmental Senior Tutor, Director of Student Experience or Head of School. We will be working with our community to ensure that everyone has access to clear information about how to raise concerns, and about the full range of support that is available.

Prof David Towers

Head of School