USW lecturer accused of ‘hazing’ students with slaps, flicks and threats to shave an eyebrow

A University of South Wales (USW) lecturer has been accused of “hazing” students with slaps, flicks and threats to shave off an eyebrow.

The accusation came when a USW student made a formal complaint about a football “disciplinary committee” formed by a lecturer, alleging they handed out “forfeits” to students consisting of flicks to the ear, hard slaps to the back of the head and even threats to shave off a student’s eyebrow.

However, USW has since apologised, writing to the student “sincerely apologise for any distress”.

The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) accredited coaching course, formed by the lecturer, was made up of university students who acted as coaches and allegedly used these “hazing” techniques on their fellow classmates.

The unnamed student also further claimed that in one football session, the lecturer made a comment about one student’s weight, and made remarks to people on the course such as “can you count to two?”. The lecturer also allegedly said “don’t give any credit to people for their brains because they’ll always disappoint you”.

In his complaint, the student branded these comments “obnoxious”, describing the lecturer’s techniques as “the single worst example of coach education I have witnessed”.

Talking about the aftermath of the session, the student claimed: “Those on the receiving end of these comments looked visibly shaken and clearly couldn’t keep eye contact with [the lecturer]. Nobody smiled, nobody laughed. The post-session chat amongst some of the coaches consisted of how if we were playing we would have thrown down the bib and walked off.”

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In the session flagged by the student, two students allegedly used a random wheel-spinning app on a phone to select forfeits for the class members over what he called “dubious reasons”. Reasons he said allegedly led to forfeits were that one student received a forfeit for turning up in sandals despite not taking part in physical activity, whilst another got one for arriving late to a “briefing”.

The student further alleged that disputing a forfeit would result in receiving another one. However, it is understood that the student who was threatened with a shaved eyebrow and argued against this was able to avoid it.

Discussing the forfeits, in an email the student said: “We were told that if we refused a forfeit it would be a £25 fine and if we spun the wheel and refused to complete the task that would be a £50 fine, the proceeds of which were to go towards ‘drinking’. This was hardly suitable for the Muslim contingent in the changing room.”

University of South Wales’ Cardiff campus via Google Maps

The whistleblower further claimed that despite the lecturer not being in the room at the time, he felt these attitudes “came from the top”.

He alleged: “The lecturer himself stated at the beginning of the course that if forfeits were refused it would be escalated from the committee to himself and that he would simply throw you off the course immediately.” The student described this behaviour as “completely unacceptable” and compared it to a “bullying mentality from school” which “created an intimidating, unfriendly environment which lacked any warmth”.

In an email from a HR manager at the university seen by Wales Online, it says an external investigator found “grounds to uphold the concerns”.

The newspaper saw further communications, including an email from a course leader, saying whoever said that “such behaviour by students [distributing forfeits to other students] is unacceptable and, although the intention may have been to bring students together, it can be seen as divisive and an act of bullying in some cases”.

The course leader also spoke to the student who made the complaint, telling him that the accused lecturer “confirmed he was aware of the committee being formed to distribute forfeits to students for poor timekeeping etc”.

The lecturer is said to still be in his position, and an email from the aforementioned HR manager stated a “formal disciplinary hearing” took place and “the standards and behaviours expected of our staff was explicitly reiterated”.

WalesOnline further reported that a University of South Wales course leader wrote that the football committee had been “identified and disbanded” in response to the complaint.

“Such behaviour by students (distributing forfeits to other students) is unacceptable and, although the intention may have been to bring students together, it can be seen as divisive and an act of bullying in some cases,” said the course leader.

The student expressed disappointment at the lack of information about what would be done about his complaints outside of these emails, claiming that the university was “protecting a bully”.

He then became further distressed after learning that his identity had been revealed to the lecturer following his complaint, saying that he “felt the need to change my modules just to avoid [the lecturer] as he was due to assess one of my modules”.

The student says this process has left him feeling demoralised and exhausted, and he plans to leave the sport after completion of his degree.

In a statement, the University of South Wales said: “We do not comment on individual complaints. We are fully committed to upholding a respectful and supportive environment for everyone in our community. We take all complaints involving staff or students very seriously and carry out a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding any formal complaint and take appropriate action where necessary.”

Featured image via Google Maps