Ebenezer Azamati, a postgraduate student from Ghana, was violently removed from an event at the Oxford Union, a prominent British debating society.
LONDON — The Oxford Union, a prestigious, nearly 200-year-old British debating society that counts several high-profile politicians among its alumni, has come under fire for the violent treatment of a blind student from Ghana who witnesses say wasforcibly expelled from a packed event hall.
The incident has ignited outrage around the country, provoking a wave of resignations from the society and drawing scrutiny of the elite, predominately white organization, especially as videos have spread online showing the student, Ebenezer Azamati, struggling with a security guard who forcefully tried to pry him off a bench.
The society’s president, Brendan McGrath, stepped down under growing pressure late Tuesday, saying that he apologized “profusely and unqualifiedly.” In his resignation letter, he added, “Fundamentally, it is the president’s job to ensure that every member feels welcome at the Oxford Union. This is a goal I have manifestly failed to reach.”
At least eight other society members resigned this week, including several in leadership roles.
Mr. Azamati, a 25-year-old postgraduate student at Oxford University who is a member of the union, said in a phone interview that he was traumatized by the event, which took place on Oct. 17, and that he was considering legal action.
“I never expected anything like that could happen to me in Britain, let alone Oxford,” he said. “I still feel threatened.”
He added that the encounter “keeps playing on my mind.”
The Oxford Union is a private society, independent of Oxford University, though most of its members are current or past students.
In an email, the union said, “We are in ongoing discussions with Mr. Azamati in order to pursue a solution agreeable to all parties, which addresses the structural issues raised; we do not wish to prejudice those discussions with further comment at this time.
Mr. Azamati, who was born blind, went to the hall early on Oct. 17 to reserve a seat before the start of the debate, according to accounts from other attendees published in The Oxford Student, a university newspaper.He left the hall, and when he returned to take his seat before the debate began, he was told that the room was full. He eventually went back inside and sat down in a seat offered by someone, but he was followed by a security guard.
An argument ensued. One video of the encounter shows two men grappling with Mr. Azamati as they try to remove him from his seat.
Mr. Azamati is seen clinging to the bench, one hand clasping his union membership card.
Harry Hatwell, a 21-year-old law student at the university, saw the episode from a balcony and said it escalated quickly.
“He literally dragged him by the ankles,” Mr. Hatwell said in an interview, describing the encounter between the security guard and Mr. Azamati, which was only partially captured in the video. Mr. Hatwell said Mr. Azamati eventually walked out of the room.
Mr. Azamati, who studies international relations at St. John’s College, part of Oxford University, was hesitant to describe the episode in detail but said it came as a shock.
“I don’t know how I walked back to my room,” he said.
He described suddenly waking from sleep that night, gasping for air. “I was just shaking.”
But days after the altercation, Mr. McGrath, the union president, said that it was Mr. Azamati who had been violent. When Mr. Azamati’s union membership was then withdrawn for two university terms, news of the incident spread and student groups began lining up behind him.The Oxford University Africa Societycondemned his treatment, calling it “violent, unjust, inhumane and shameful,” and organized a protest on Friday.
By Monday evening, Jeremy Bararia, the only black member of the union’s governing body, stepped downand called on Mr. McGrath to resignThe Oxford University Africa Societycondemned his treatment, calling it “violent, unjust, inhumane and shameful,” and organized a protest on Friday.
By Monday evening, Jeremy Bararia, the only black member of the union’s governing body, stepped downand called on Mr. McGrath to resign.
“I feel that not only as a person of color and African, but as an individual with a sense of morality, I can no longer remain within an institution such as this, so long as you remain in office,” Mr. Bararia said.
Oxford University also condemned the incident and said Monday that it offered its “full sympathy and support” to Mr. Azamati.
“The university is writing to the union, pressing hard for answers on how it intends to make amends to Mr. Azamati and what further steps it will take to avoid such an incident being repeated,” Stephen Rouse, a spokesman for the university, said in an email.
The union reinstated Mr. Azamati’s membership after Mr. McGrath dropped his accusation over the weekend.
But some union members said that did not go far enough. Mr. Hatwell, who is also a member of the union, said that some members had planned to put forward an impeachment motion against Mr. McGrath, an effort his resignation made the moot.
Mr. Hatwell said it was important to show that the union, whose former members include Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other prominent politicians, was accountable.
“Boris Johnson used to be president of the union,” he said. “If you ever hold this position for some reason, for better or for worse, matters in British political life, and we need to show that actually what you do, your response to something like this actually matters.”
Mr. Hatwell called the guard’s actions “disproportionate” and said that no one from the debate committee or the audience intervened.
Mr. Azamati said that he may pursue legal action against the union because he feels something larger than him is at stake. He said that he and his lawyer had sent a letter to the union, “making our legal claims and demands.”
He added that he hopes his case will highlight the need for every society at Oxford and in the broader community to be “accessible to everyone.”
Even before the incident, he said, his needs were not taken into account, despite the hefty fee associated with his union membership. For example, he found it distressing as a blind person to have to “compete” for a seat.
“My wish is that society will not be fair only to the able,” he said. “It will not be fair only to a specific section of society.”
By Iliana Magra (NYT)
 |
| Ebenezer Azamati, 25, a postgraduate student at Oxford University |
LONDON — The Oxford Union, a prestigious, nearly 200-year-old British debating society that counts several high-profile politicians among its alumni, has come under fire for the violent treatment of a blind student from Ghana who witnesses say wasforcibly expelled from a packed event hall.
The incident has ignited outrage around the country, provoking a wave of resignations from the society and drawing scrutiny of the elite, predominately white organization, especially as videos have spread online showing the student, Ebenezer Azamati, struggling with a security guard who forcefully tried to pry him off a bench.
The society’s president, Brendan McGrath, stepped down under growing pressure late Tuesday, saying that he apologized “profusely and unqualifiedly.” In his resignation letter, he added, “Fundamentally, it is the president’s job to ensure that every member feels welcome at the Oxford Union. This is a goal I have manifestly failed to reach.”
At least eight other society members resigned this week, including several in leadership roles.
Mr. Azamati, a 25-year-old postgraduate student at Oxford University who is a member of the union, said in a phone interview that he was traumatized by the event, which took place on Oct. 17, and that he was considering legal action.
“I never expected anything like that could happen to me in Britain, let alone Oxford,” he said. “I still feel threatened.”
He added that the encounter “keeps playing on my mind.”
The Oxford Union is a private society, independent of Oxford University, though most of its members are current or past students.
In an email, the union said, “We are in ongoing discussions with Mr. Azamati in order to pursue a solution agreeable to all parties, which addresses the structural issues raised; we do not wish to prejudice those discussions with further comment at this time.
Mr. Azamati, who was born blind, went to the hall early on Oct. 17 to reserve a seat before the start of the debate, according to accounts from other attendees published in The Oxford Student, a university newspaper.He left the hall, and when he returned to take his seat before the debate began, he was told that the room was full. He eventually went back inside and sat down in a seat offered by someone, but he was followed by a security guard.
An argument ensued. One video of the encounter shows two men grappling with Mr. Azamati as they try to remove him from his seat.
Mr. Azamati is seen clinging to the bench, one hand clasping his union membership card.
Harry Hatwell, a 21-year-old law student at the university, saw the episode from a balcony and said it escalated quickly.
“He literally dragged him by the ankles,” Mr. Hatwell said in an interview, describing the encounter between the security guard and Mr. Azamati, which was only partially captured in the video. Mr. Hatwell said Mr. Azamati eventually walked out of the room.
Mr. Azamati, who studies international relations at St. John’s College, part of Oxford University, was hesitant to describe the episode in detail but said it came as a shock.
“I don’t know how I walked back to my room,” he said.
He described suddenly waking from sleep that night, gasping for air. “I was just shaking.”
But days after the altercation, Mr. McGrath, the union president, said that it was Mr. Azamati who had been violent. When Mr. Azamati’s union membership was then withdrawn for two university terms, news of the incident spread and student groups began lining up behind him.The Oxford University Africa Societycondemned his treatment, calling it “violent, unjust, inhumane and shameful,” and organized a protest on Friday.
By Monday evening, Jeremy Bararia, the only black member of the union’s governing body, stepped downand called on Mr. McGrath to resignThe Oxford University Africa Societycondemned his treatment, calling it “violent, unjust, inhumane and shameful,” and organized a protest on Friday.
By Monday evening, Jeremy Bararia, the only black member of the union’s governing body, stepped downand called on Mr. McGrath to resign.
“I feel that not only as a person of color and African, but as an individual with a sense of morality, I can no longer remain within an institution such as this, so long as you remain in office,” Mr. Bararia said.
Oxford University also condemned the incident and said Monday that it offered its “full sympathy and support” to Mr. Azamati.
“The university is writing to the union, pressing hard for answers on how it intends to make amends to Mr. Azamati and what further steps it will take to avoid such an incident being repeated,” Stephen Rouse, a spokesman for the university, said in an email.
The union reinstated Mr. Azamati’s membership after Mr. McGrath dropped his accusation over the weekend.
But some union members said that did not go far enough. Mr. Hatwell, who is also a member of the union, said that some members had planned to put forward an impeachment motion against Mr. McGrath, an effort his resignation made the moot.
Mr. Hatwell said it was important to show that the union, whose former members include Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other prominent politicians, was accountable.
“Boris Johnson used to be president of the union,” he said. “If you ever hold this position for some reason, for better or for worse, matters in British political life, and we need to show that actually what you do, your response to something like this actually matters.”
Mr. Hatwell called the guard’s actions “disproportionate” and said that no one from the debate committee or the audience intervened.
Mr. Azamati said that he may pursue legal action against the union because he feels something larger than him is at stake. He said that he and his lawyer had sent a letter to the union, “making our legal claims and demands.”
He added that he hopes his case will highlight the need for every society at Oxford and in the broader community to be “accessible to everyone.”
Even before the incident, he said, his needs were not taken into account, despite the hefty fee associated with his union membership. For example, he found it distressing as a blind person to have to “compete” for a seat.
“My wish is that society will not be fair only to the able,” he said. “It will not be fair only to a specific section of society.”
By Iliana Magra (NYT)
