Passed: May 2024 (20th)

What is the current problem, and how does it affect students?

Work done on LUU’s policy (now lapsed) on Working Definition on Islamophobia here found that Muslim students would rather have a clear strategy on how LUU will collaborate with Muslim students, in its work on inclusion of and support for Muslim students. 

The university is under pressure to adopt a working definition of Islamophobia. More so now with the Israel-Palestine situation in the Middle East whose effects have been felt here in the UK including Leeds. This Feb 2024 statement from TELL MAMA confirms that post Oct 7, 2023, there were 2,010 cases of Islamophobic incidents which is a 335% increase in anti-Muslim hate cases from the same period in the previous year. 

LUU’s engagement with Muslim students is poor, as it focuses mainly on the provisions of 

International students  - lack of knowledge/awareness of their rights in terms of what constitutes a hate-crime and how reporting incidents works and its outcomes. 

Muslim students  and ‘‘settled satisfaction’ - just the basic will do, ie prayer facilities, because they don't want to feel that they are demanding of the institution. 

ISoc committee members can be overwhelmed by what they are supposed to provide for the Muslim student community at Leeds. Is it just to ensure resources and provisions are in place for their membership in particular and Muslim students in general which enable them to practise their faith, or does it extend further than that, eg., wellbeing support in such times when expertise is needed. When such a time when this is needed, where could they signpost students to, making sure that those students are not retraumatised.

Prevent duty, trust and the Muslim students experience

Since 2015, it is a legal duty of universities to sign up to Prevent, which calls on those in public-facing roles to report on anyone they suspect of being vulnerable to radicalisation and terrorism (HM Gov, 2018). However Prevent is problematic as it targets black and brown communities, and most of Muslim students in Leeds will be from these communities. 

National Union of Students (NUS) has come out in opposition of Prevent citing among others

• Limited training of university staff on how to recognise vulnerable students at risk of radicalisation. 

• Legal obligations that then put pressure on them to act on those who they deemed problematic or suspicious 

This 2021 research finds Prevent

• Create an environment of monitoring and suspicion on campus , among staff and students

• Instils fear and paranoia on Muslim students that includes questioning their identity

•  Leads to self-censorship and disengagement from university life among Muslim students

• Operates on Islamophobic ideas and stereotypes and Muslims as suspects 

As Prevent is a legal obligation for the university, it is understandable that a lack of trust prevails in the services provided by them thus creating an additional barrier for Muslim students to seek available support. This is then compounded by the lack of understanding of the Muslim students’ perspectives and can retraumatised those who do engage with those services. 

What is your proposed change? How will it benefit students?

Implementation of:

Roundtable recommendations. Working on the recommended actions on this document informed by said recommendations, including regular check-ins with Muslim students via pulse survey).   

FOSIS suggestions:

• Awareness of Prevent and its impact on Muslim students 

• Awareness and addressing Islamophobia - comms that actually promote a greater understanding of what it is and how to address it 

• Recognising policies and practices within LUU that are discriminatory to Muslim students. 

Inclusion

• LUU to include Muslim students in any discussion that primarily affects them, beyond that of the student exec and ISoc, eg. adoption of definitions. 

• Including the local community on interfaith work, so as many students as possible feel part of Leeds and value the different community within and across campus as well in the wider city - they have active participation. 

• Celebrating Muslim students, beyond the cultural calendar. 

Improved signposting to third party organisations, eg TELL MAMA, MEND UK. Case studies of incidents. 

Students of any or no faiths are empowered to advocate for themselves and others. 

Have you considered the impact of the proposed change for traditionally underrepresented student groups?

Muslim students are likely to be part of an underrepresented student group, due to the intersectionalities of  their marginalised identities that goes beyond a racial one, thus are more likely to face systemic and structural discrimination which becomes barriers to participation. In particular, female Muslim students will benefit from this policy as they are likely to be targets due to their visibility in how they represent their Muslim identity. 

The aim of the idea is to improve the experience of Muslim students at Leeds, so that they feel seen, valued and celebrated. That their experience and those of their community matters.