Cardiff University student, who was racially abused, offered £150 after waiting a year

TW: This article contains mention of racism 

A Cardiff University student revealed he was offered £150 in compensation after being racially abused by two students at a Halloween party.

The incident took place at a Halloween party in October 2024, where two students racially abused another student. However, after reporting it, the victim had to wait a year for any action to take place.

After living in halls for around two months, *Jordan attended a Halloween party, along with his friend “Sam, and was later joined by Sam’s friends, *Will and *Henry.

The first incident occurred inside the party where Will was dressed up as Soulja Boy, holding a toy gun. He told Jordan, who was dressed up as a prisoner, that he didn’t need to dress up in order to look like a criminal.

When called up on his racial stereotyping, Will responded saying that he was considering “going in black face,” according to Jordan, who says he was the only black person at the party.

The second incident happened outside of the party where another one of Sam’s friend Henry, was using a vape. When asked by Jordan what flavour it was, Henry responded saying it was banana, and that he did not like it.

However, he did express that he thought Jordan would like the flavour, to which Jordan responded saying, “are you saying that because I’m black?”, and Henry just said “yeah.”

Reflecting on the comment, Jordan told the BBC: “I didn’t really believe it, I was thinking maybe he accidentally said that to me.

“I told him how lucky he is saying that here, surrounded by everyone else who looks exactly like him, and that I’m the only person here to defend myself.”

The now 21-year-old did not report the incident to the police, hoping the university would take appropriate action when punishing the two students.

However, it took a whole year before action was taken. Jordan was initially offered £150 by the university to compensate for the delay, before this was increased to to £500 following a review.

The university upheld Jordan’s complaint, confirming: “The comments made[…] were racist in their nature of wholly unacceptable and in breach of the expectations of student conduct.”

In alignment with the student conduct procedure, the university said the punishment could include writing an apology letter, a formal warning to remain on record for a specified period of time, attending an educational workshop, and being banned form graduation events.

Jordan was disappointed with the university’s action because he felt the punishments proposed were”usually available only for minor concerns.”

He said: “I just feel like it’s been dealt with really badly. I just don’t understand how they can classify it as racism and say it’s a minor incident. How does that make any sense?”

Jordan continued to argue “every single person of colour had been let down,” as a result of the lack of action taken by Cardiff University.

Cardiff University

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When asked by The BBC what punishment Will and Henry had received for their actions, Cardiff University did not comment, and Jordan still does not know.

The university explained interviews with Will and Henry are confidential, and that due to data protection regulations, it is limited in what information they could share, even with Jordan.

Jordan said: “I don’t know how they’ve been punished, smirk at me, still speak to me, even though they’ve been punished because of me.”

After requesting a review of the university’s decision, it was returned almost three months later with no change.

Jordan predicted the two students will graduate without any evidence of their racist comments on their record for employers to see, which he believes is wrong.

Jordan described the feeling of being left to deal with affects of the incident on his own over the past year, saying: “Even thinking about it now, I’m getting the sinking feeling, it’s been a year of just thinking ‘I really hope I don’t bump into them.’

“I feel like if it were the other way around, it would be dealt with so differently. Since I was little, I’ve always felt I’ve got into trouble for things I didn’t do.

“I felt like this is even more personal than it already was, because it annoys me to know that if I did the same thing, I could be kicked out. I could have a different reaction to what they’ve got.”

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: “We condemn racism in all its forms, and we are unequivocal in our position on this; we will not tolerate racism in our institution, and its not considered a minor matter.

“We have measures in place and actively encourage students – and staff – to report such incidents through our ‘Report and Support’ mechanism. Whilst it would be inappropriate to comment on the outcome of an individual and anonymous case, we take all allegations of racism extremely seriously and have robust policies and procedures in place to investigate and take appropriate action based on the available evidence.

“Where students are dissatisfied, at the end of the university’s formal process, they can take their case to the independent ombudsman, the OIA. Allegations can also of course be reported to the police.

“We recognise that there is still a huge amount of work to do. Racism and racial harassment remain a signifiant problem in Higher Education Institutions across Wales and the UK, and for wider society. That’s why we continue to improve our support and challenge ourselves to provide a safe and inclusive work and study environment for our community with a range of projects, networks, and policies.

“We are committed to open, transparent and challenging dialogue on racism, and on equality, diversity and inclusion.”

*All names in this article have been changed.

If you have been affected by the content of this article, you can access Cardiff University’s support team here. 

Alternatively, you can contact the Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123, or contact Shout, a 24/7 text messaging service, by texting the word “Shout” to 85258.