First-year University of Cambridge students have reportedly been told to attend anti-racism seminars.
Freshers at Woldson College were told to complete the course, which covers “microaggressions” and how “whiteness is centric” in society.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that all new students at Wolfson College were expected to attend the mandatory sessions over Zoom.
They were told complimenting someone on the quality of their spoken English could make them feel devalued, according to the paper.
A further slide in a Powerpoint presentation The Sunday Telegraph said it had obtained told students: “In society whiteness [is] centric.
“This involves whiteness being seen as the ‘default’ race and everyone else being an ‘other’.”
The Independent has contacted Wolfson College for comment.
Last year, at a different Cambridge college, dons were forced to apologise to a black masters student who was stopped from entering until a white friend vouched for him.
Collin Edouard – who was studying at Wolfson – was “grabbed” by a porter as he tried to enter St Catherine’s College.
He told The Independent he felt the incident demonstrated an “implicit bias” faced by black students at Cambridge.
