A student at a North East university, who was racially abused on campus, alleges the university has "failed to tackle even the most clear-cut racist incidents". 

Samantha Smith, who at the time was the only woman of colour to hold a position at the Durham Union, has said that a member of the Union's Equalities Committee directed a racial slur at her in front of multiple witnesses. 

Miss Smith shared her ordeal online, saying that after she filed a formal complaint the Union and the University both ruled in her favour - but Miss Smith has said the resulting apology is "not good enough". 

Durham University has vowed to "learn" from the apology, which they are concerned was "not commensurate with the very serious nature of the offence". A spokesperson from Durham Univeristy also claims that sanctions imposed for the incident "go much further" than reported online. 

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Miss Smith said: "During the investigation, he denied everything, accused me of lying, insulted me and tried to degrade my character. 

"I had five-plus witnesses, CCTV footage, and the findings of an internal union investigation which also ruled in my favour. He didn't offer a single bit of evidence. My uni investigated it and ruled in my favour. 

"He was told to write a formal apology and I have received it. Frankly, it isn't good enough."

The Northern Echo: Samantha posted the apology to Twitter. Samantha posted the apology to Twitter. (Image: Samantha Smith)

The man's name has not been divulged, though Durham Union Society and Durham University both investigated the matter, and ruled in Miss Smith's favour. Durham Union is a student debating society which is independent of both the university and the student union. 

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Miss Smith said she found the four-line apology to be lacklustre, adding: "In his 'apology', he doesn't even mention what he's apologising for. He showed no remorse then and clearly doesn't now.

"The uni themselves admitted the apology was 'minimal', and they need to ensure a 'reasonable standard of apology' is met in future cases like mine.

"Durham is supposedly one of the top academic institutions in the world, yet they fail to tackle even the most clear-cut racist incidents.

"I feel angry, I feel degraded, and I feel let down."

A Durham University spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry that one of our students has experienced abuse. 

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“We do not tolerate racism in any form and entirely condemn language of this kind. 

“These allegations have been investigated by both Durham University and the Durham Union Society. Sanctions have been imposed in line with university policies and processes which go much further than those disclosed on social media.

“We are concerned that the apology was not commensurate with the very serious nature of the offence. We will learn from this. In future, as part of our disciplinary processes, we will endeavour to ensure that responding parties offer meaningful apologies which fully acknowledge what has gone wrong, and accept full responsibility for this.”