UCL faces bullying accusations after threatening to expel a student

President of Pi Media, Becky Pinnington, has allegedly been bullied by UCL after obtaining information about forecasts which predicted UCL making even greater profits out of students rent than ever before, and publishing an article about its existence.

An internal report containing financial forecasts for the next three years was left openly accessible by Head of Estates, Andrew Grainger – who told students earlier this month it was a “fact of life” that some can’t afford to study at UCL – when he left his Microsoft Outlook Calendar publicly accessible last month.

The documents were set to add fuel to the fire of the current rent strikes

After writing that these documents were in Pi’s possession, Vice Provost Rex Knight told Becky she had to sign an agreement to “immediately deliver up or destroy all copies of the UCL Confidential Information” she had.

Shocked by this blatant breach of free speech, Becky told the Independent she felt, “I felt intimidated, anxious and scared,” adding “as a student journalist I felt sad because this was information that was interesting and integral to student life, but it was made very clear that if I were to publish anything more I could lose my degree.”

The letter, that Becky was coerced into signing by UCL management, read:

“UCL has the ability to invoke various sanctions following an event of unauthorised use, including, against individuals, the Student Disciplinary Code with penalties that could include suspension from the use of all UCL computing facilities for extended periods, dismissal without notice and potential exposure to court proceedings.”

However, in a bid to challenge UCL’s crushing of freedom of expression, Becky has decided to go public, telling The Tab: “For me, free speech isn’t the main issue. I’m not just someone who’s sad she can’t throw her opinions around; this is an issue of accountability. UCL is a public institution and has a duty to its students and staff to be transparent on the issues and decision-making that affects them the most.

“And the fact that people should know is evidenced by the number of people who’ve said to me, ‘But what was actually in the documents?’ I can’t tell them, but they deserve to know what UCL’s doing behind the scenes.”

UCL deny any threats though, claiming in a statement that “no disciplinary action has been taken and no student threatened with expulsion. We were made aware of a potential breach of our computer regulations governing the downloading of confidential content, these are standard regulations that would expect to find in place at any major organisation.

“The student involved was made aware that any publication or passing to a third party of material downloaded in breach of regulations was a potential disciplinary matter, and the student agreed to comply with the regulations.”