Supporting student communities
As the Student Exec, we have met with and continue to meet with representatives from ISoc, JSoc and PSG, and have been regularly meeting with the University to relay the concerns raised by our students, and advocate for resolutions which prioritise their safety. We have also attended joint meetings with the society committees and University management and supported them to make their voices heard as best as we can. We have witnessed and felt the stress, sadness, anger and confusion our community is going through, and our purpose is to ensure all students have access to the support they need, and avenues for their voices to be heard.
LUU has been working with our student groups to ensure their protests, demonstrations and vigils are safe and follow all the procedures needed to ensure everyone’s security.
Antisemitism and Islamophobia
The conflict has created fear from communities about increases of antisemitism and Islamophobia. We are deeply concerned by reports of both on campus. Hate speech or discrimination of any kind is absolutely unacceptable, and we urge any instances of these to be reported via the University’s Harassment and Misconduct team. You can also submit a report anonymously.
Chaplaincy
We are aware of concerns after comments made by an externally-appointed Chaplain, Rabbi Zacharia Deutsch, were shared on social media. Rabbi Deutsch is not employed by the University of Leeds or LUU, he is employed by the University Jewish Chaplaincy (UJC), and serves the Jewish student community at a number of universities across Yorkshire. The comments made have caused a lot of upset in our student community, and beyond. We are working closely with student groups impacted by this issue, creating dialogue between them and the University, and working to ensure the safety of all on campus by supporting the organisation of safe events, and working with our own and the University’s security teams. We also recognise that Rabbi Deutsch and his family have been targeted by threats from the public, which is unacceptable.
Help and support
We have expanded our Help and Support service in response from student communities and continue to welcome feedback from students about how they want to access help. We have run an advice service at an alternative venue to respond to student safety concerns and we are offering additional help on Fridays in our Foyer. We are here for students to navigate other support at University, such as making mitigating circumstances applications, and have encouraged the University to consider distress relating to this conflict as part of the mitigating circumstances process. If you feel your studies are being affected, or you want a listening ear, please get in touch with us so we can support you through the process.
