Edinburgh Uni FINALLY apologises to Esme Allman for its lack of support when false claims were made about her in the national papers

Edinburgh University have apologised to third year student Esme Allman for the lack of support offered to her when national papers erroneously connected Allman to claims that another Edinburgh student, Robbie Travers, was being investigated for 'mocking ISIS.'

Although Allman did make a complaint to the University regarding Travers, this concerned alleged personal attacks against her and had nothing to do with any claims made about ISIS.

Travers with Labour MP Liz Kendall

National newspapers including The Times and The Daily Mail covered the story, writing that Allman was responsible for the 'mocking ISIS' complaint. Both papers have since apologised for their false reporting.

In the apology, the University highlighted their poor handling of their own investigation which followed Allman's original complaint, as well as for the lack of support given to her when the story was in the national media.

It stated: "On behalf of the University, I am now writing to apologise to you in response to a number of areas raised in the report. First, the University’s handling of the conduct investigation which followed from your original complaint took longer than it should have done.

"While I understand that there were reasons for this, I also completely recognise that delays in concluding that investigation caused additional distress."

It also included an offer to discuss concerns she may have about the experience of BME students at the university.

The apology in full

Esme Allman spoke to The Tab about her thoughts on the apology. She said: "Given the circumstances I was relatively happy with it and I do hope it's not simply lip service. Getting the University to admit they were at fault is a massive step. Will it undo the emotional and mental strain it put on me for months? No. Would I have preferred a check? Sure.

"But ultimately they're making steps to safeguard the experiences of students of colour at Edinburgh and hopefully if something like this happens in the future (which is likely given that the right wing media carry out regular witch hunts against black and brown student activists) the university will be far better equipped to deal with this kind of situation.

"The most important thing to me is that no one will ever have to endure what I had to. Feel isolated from the very establishment you've put your faith and your coins into was the biggest let down throughout this whole thing."