Should racist posts bar someone from university?
Nottingham Trent’s decision to withdraw an offer from a student over offensive Snapchat messages should worry us.
The moral panic over racist football fans continues apace. We now know that only a tiny fraction of the social-media posts made in the aftermath of England’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final contained racist abuse and that most of these originated abroad. But this is not enough to stop the purges.
Late last week, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) announced it was withdrawing an offer of a place it had made to a prospective student following allegations of racism. In a Snapchat voice note, a young man – reported to be the incoming student – swore and racially abused England’s black penalty-takers. The clip was later shared publicly on Instagram and, there, commenters linked the voice to a student due to start at NTU this September.