Image via: @agustIeaves Twitter
‘Corona! Chinese!’ – Univen students taunt guest researcher [video]
Univen released a statement on Thursday saying that it has distanced itself from student’s actions in heckling a professor about having coronavirus.
Image via: @agustIeaves Twitter
The University of Venda (Univen) in Thohoyandou Limpopo has on Thursday 12 March issued an apology to Dr Furumoto — a research assistant at the University of Essex in the UK — who was jeered by students on campus for being associated with coronavirus due to his nationality.
A video of the students shouting “Corona! Chinese!” at the professor has been circulating on social media since the video was posted on 6 March.
Watch: Students heckle professor
Univen apologises for student’s coronavirus video
According to the statement, Dr Furumoto is part of a Micro variation Workshop hosted by MER Mathivha Centre for African Languages, Arts and Culture. This workshop is co-sponsored by JSPS’s Core-to-Core Program: B Asia-Africa Science Platforms, and the Office of the Dean, School of Human and Social Sciences.
According to the statement, Dr Furumoto was shocked and disturbed by the actions taken by the Univen students, essentially insinuating that he had coronavirus or brought it to South Africa.
Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University, Dr Bernard Nthambeleni said the coronavirus video is unacceptable:
“We apologise on behalf of the University Management and the entire University community. We would like to emphasize that the behaviour in the video is not acceptable and it does by no means represent values promoted by the University,” said Nthambeleni.
Univen continues to welcome global researchers despite disturbing video
Nthambeleni explained that despite the horrific coronavirus video, the university still welcomes researchers within South Africa.
“Executive Management strives for a safe place of learning while promoting diversity and global citizenship. The Management also continuously welcome researchers within and outside of South Africa to achieve excellence in Research,” he said.
“Univen is a Higher Education Institution that promotes diversity and excellence for members of the global society. Therefore, the University distances itself from these actions and further condemns such conducts by some students. We affirm the University’s values of tolerance, diversity and ubuntu,” he added.
According to the African News Agency (ANA), Egyptian prosecutors on Thursday 12 March ordered four-days’ detention for two citizens who discriminated against a Chinese man by accusing him of having coronavirus.
As it stands, there are 13 065 cases of coronavirus globally. There are currently 5 116 deaths and 70 727 people have made a recovery.
