King’s College London vows to keep the national anthem at graduation

What was all the fuss about?


King’s College has said that it will keep playing ‘God Save the Queen’ at the graduation ceremony, following a controversial call by a KCLSU VP to have it removed, citing right-wing political reasons.

Mahamed Abdullahi posted on Facebook last week calling for the national anthem to be removed “in the context of increasing far right nationalism across Europe and the legacy of the British empire, it’s just a bit shit and it doesn’t even bang.”

A spokesperson for KCLSU then said: “We are always open to feedback from students, staff and alumni and are currently in discussion with KCLSU student officers about various elements of the ceremonies, including the use of the national anthem. Feedback from all members of the King’s community will be used in planning the next set of ceremonies.”

A petition was later started by a leader of the KCL Conservative Union to oppose Abdullahi, writing: “We invite Mr Abdullahi to consider the views of all students on the matter and to respect the traditions of the university and the country in which we study.”

Mr Abdullahi has been under heavy fire following his request, receiving “Islamophobic and racist abuse”.

Now, however, it seems that discussions are over and they did not end on Mahamed’s side, with KCL stating: “We can confirm we have no plans to remove the national anthem from graduation ceremonies.”

Some have claimed that Mahamed Abdullahi was not acting in the interest of the students or the university, and many have reigned anger on his language.