A New Zealand academic has given back a student-voted lecturer of the year award to protest what he calls an "underbelly of hate" on the campus.
Associate Professor Ekant Veer, who has taught marketing at the University of Canterbury since 2010, says he has been a target of racism during his time there.
"My earliest experience of this came in my first semester of teaching at the University of Canterbury when I was reading the anonymous feedback from students," he wrote in a blog post earlier this week.
"In the section where it asked what should be changed to improve the course, one student wrote 'his ethnicity'.
Assoc Prof Veer is of Indian descent and was born in Liverpool.
"I've been brown all my life, so I'm used to racism. Whether it's the ignorant throwaway comment, or the overtly aggressive act, I've seen it and experienced it and I know one day my daughters will see it and experience it. This is why I'm taking a stand."
Last month, the university's Engineering Society was criticised for its RoUndie 500 event, where participants were encouraged to decorate their cars and dress up in costumes that were "the more inappropriate the better".
Assoc Prof Veer says this encouragement resulted in a host of costumes that were "undeniably racist and sexist".
"For people to jump on these old chestnuts in order to cause offence just continues to highlight this ugly underbelly. This is offensive and inappropriate," he said.
The university has taken complaints about the event seriously and action has been taken, but Assoc Prof Veer says neither the event's organisers, nor the participants, have apologised.
He also is not sure the response of the university's students' association UCSA, which gave him his award, will ensure the behaviour is not repeated.
"I have no proof that the UCSA has taken the matter seriously. With no apology and no guarantee of ensuring similar behaviour does not occur again, I believe that racist and sexist behaviour will continue."
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