Black Lives Matter: Students 'need support' over George Floyd death

Thousands of people have joined anti-racism protests across the UK

Black students emotionally affected by the death of George Floyd and its aftermath should be offered leniency by universities, the National Union of Students (NUS) said.

The organisation said the events would have been "traumatic" for students who already experience "systemic racism".

Nottingham, Loughborough and Oxford are among a growing number of universities offering extenuating circumstances to those who feel their work has suffered.

The NUS said others should do the same.

Extenuating circumstances could mean more time to work on coursework or another attempt at an exam.

Florence Ashaye said she had faced racism on campus and hopes these protests will make a change

Florence Ashaye, a medical physiology and therapeutics student at the University of Nottingham, raised the issue at her university after her mental health was affected.

The 21-year-old said: "I've experienced racism myself and seeing that video of George Floyd brought all that emotion back.

"To know people do not care about my life because of the colour of my skin [affected me].

"I was so distracted. It's really hard to focus as a black student when people are trying to fight for my rights, it makes you want to be there sharing posts and signing petitions.

"It's amazing that they agreed to the extenuating circumstances. It made us feel like actually, they see us, actually, they understand."

A spokeswoman for the University of Nottingham confirmed they were offering this to help all students "distressed by current events", but particularly black students.

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It joins institutions including the University of Oxford, Loughborough and University of the Arts London.

The spokeswoman added: "The appalling killing of George Floyd has raised important questions to answer in terms of how we listen to - and learn from - the experiences of Black people and take further meaningful action to become truly anti-racist."

'Traumatic systematic racism'

A spokesman for the NUS said more work needed to be done to tackle racism but it welcomed universities being flexible with any students.

He added: "The murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests that have shone a light on the systematic racism that black people in the UK experience every day will no doubt have been traumatic for many black students.

"As a community, we must tend to the welfare of our black students, activists, officers and staff who are exhausted by racism day in day out."

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