The alleged cases of racism, sexism and xenophobia perpetrated by students at the University of Coimbra (UC) and the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra (IPC) are being investigated, assured this Monday, the rector of the University, Amílcar Falcão.
In question, as the , ethey are alleged audios e images sent by students from the Faculty of Law of the UC and the Coimbra Business School/Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração de Coimbra, from the IPC, in a WhatsApp group, with contents racists, xenophobes e misogynists.
Questioned by journalists, on the sidelines of the conference launching a partnership network of the Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) to promote national and foreign partnerships, this Monday, late in the morning, Amílcar Falcão assured that there is an investigation underway.
“Racism, sexism and other behavioral deviations exist in society in general. When they are manifested within the University, where I have jurisdiction, I deal with the issues. When they are manifested outside the University, the only thing I can do is send it to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, because it is a public crime, and open an investigation process to find out if there is any interference within the University”, he stated.
“The University of Coimbra naturally repudiates all deviant cases, all deviant situations from what is normality and from what are the humanist values that the University defends”, highlighted Amílcar Falcão.
Also on the sidelines of the session, the president of the general board of AAC, Jose Machadoguaranteed that the student association is the to accompany a investigationwhich, he added, is carried out in conjunction with the IPC.
“We have had joint meetings with both higher education institutions and now we will follow up over the next few weeks”, he stressed.
According to José Machado, the AAC wants to “promote a series of methods that can combat this type of situation, both from a passive point of view, with round tables and moments of debate”, as well as with “more restrictive measures that seek, in fact, to mitigate these situations”.
The student leader recalled that the association had already taken a stand, “together with the Student Ombudsman’s Office and the Rector’s Office”, against “xenophobic and racist acts”.
On social media, AAC, together with other associations, expressed its repudiation “in light of the regrettable episodes of racism and misogyny that have occurred recently, involving the University of Coimbra and the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra”.
