exeposé
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ISSUE 710 9 MAR 2020
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exepose.com @Exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Law lecturer targeted by racist vandalism
• The vandalism appeared in the Amory building last December • Anti-racist poster on BAME lecturer’s door was kicked • Police describe the vandalism as criminal damage
Image: Dr Joseph Lee
Aaron Loose & Neha Shaji Editor & Deputy Editor
EXCLUSIVE
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R Joseph Lee, a senior lecturer in the Law School, has confirmed that he was the owner of the anti-racist poster that was vandalised in December last year. Dr Lee, who is BAME, identifies as an immigrant Asian academic. He discovered the vandalism upon returning to work on 5 December after the 2019 strike action that unfolded between November and December. The poster appeared as if someone had stamped on it. The shoe imprint was still visible on the door, which was stained with a muddy brown liquid. There was no CCTV outside Dr Lee’s office, and so the perpetrators remain at large. Dr Lee said “My initial thought was – who did it, and what
message did that person try to convey to me?” Dr Lee took a photograph and contacted Professor Wendy Robinson, the Dean of the Law School, as well as Professor Richard Moorhead, the Head of the School. Professor Moorhead offered to relocate Dr Lee’s office to a more central
part of the school where there were more people. Lee did not accept the offer. He explained: “After thinking about it over the weekend and talking to some of my friends who have a bit of knowledge in racist incidents, the best way is not to relocate, as that may show that you are afraid of them.”
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Dr Lee later reported the vandalism as a hate crime to the police over the weekend. He said “The police replied and they came onto the premises to speak to me about it. They immediately identified it as criminal damage. “The police suggested that I did not take down the poster completely,
because that shows that you fear them, and that they have succeeded. They suggested that I put up a clean version and see if they do it again. I followed that advice and that was very helpful.” Dr Lee felt that it was important for students to know “these incidents and to know that it is wrong vandalise an anti-
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