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ISSUE 698 10 MAY 2019 exepose.com @Exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Law students “frustrated” with BLS president
Exeter deny abuse of nondisclosure agreements Louis Donohoe & Henry Jones News Editors
lowing the WhatsApp group leak as “frustrating” and “disrespectful.” Hayes, 22, was elected president on 2 July, less than two months after the screenshots from the chat were leaked. During an October interview with HerCampus, Hayes distanced BLS from the members involved in the scandal, saying “I think a lot of people on campus and wider have been very understanding that this wasn’t a Bracton Law Society issue, that it was a group of individuals, who made up 1.5% of the society last year.”
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BLS president in relationship with disgraced member of WhatsApp group chat Law students brand behaviour “disrespectful” Guild say they “understand the concern” Image: Icegoldfish
Aaron Loose & Henry Jones Editor & News Editor
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EVERAL law students have expressed frustration at the Bracton Law Society’s (BLS) president’s relationship with a disgraced student who shared racist comments in a WhatsApp group chat last year. Two BAME students, both studying law, have voiced their disappointment that BLS president Lily Hayes was dating a member of the group chat that was exposed in March 2018. The student sub-
sequently faced disciplinary action for his involvement. The group, named ‘Dodgy Blokes Soc’, included several BLS members who shared racist and misogynist messages, often with violent overtones. One of the law students told Exeposé that the BLS president’s relationship was widely known inside the law social circle. “After second year of university and the whole incident with BLS, it came to my attention that the BLS president was in a relationship with one of the boys in the group chat. People would talk about how he would come to Exeter to see his girlfriend.”
Another student also expressed disappointment about the president’s relationship. “Lily gave interviews to campus magazines in which she tried distancing BLS from the scandal, and suggesting that the BLS was suffering negatively at the actions of a minority.” They elaborated: “How can a law society redeem itself from such big a scandal and attempt to be inclusive and welcoming while the president maintained personal ties to those involved with the incident?” The source also described Hayes’ continued contact with the student fol-
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HE University of Exeter has denied any wrongdoing after it emerged they signed the second highest number of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) of any university last year. Totalling 159 NDAs, the university signed an average of 3 every week. The agreements, which are often referred to as “gagging orders”, have been criticised for their ability to silence those who wish to speak out. Responses from 98 universities nationwide revealed that 2,600 non-disclosure agreements were signed in 2017-18 alone, a rise of 28 per cent since 2014-15. This has prompted concerns that victims of misconduct are being silenced. NDAs are typically part of a monetary agreement used to prevent staff and ex-staff making information public. If someone speaks out against an NDA, they break a contract, leaving them at risk of being sued. In legal practice they are often described as ‘confidentiality clauses.’ The University of Exeter denied any wrongdoing, telling Exeposé “We do not use non-disclosure agreements for staff or students. The use of NDAs is common practice during academic work.” Exeter’s UCU said: “We have been informed that the University of Exeter has used settlement agreements, in some cases to protect parties in a dispute.”
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