Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • “USyd you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”: Post-SGM Palestine Rally
    • A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers
    • Week 11 Editorial
    • Losing My Religion: Elegies from an Atheist who desperately wants to believe in God
    • The Islamic Spirituality of Romanticising your Life
    • Loss, to which I return often.
    • My Name is Anonymous and I’m an Alcoholic
    • Modern Chaos
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Thursday, May 15
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»News

    University Registrar apologises for racist incident in MATH1021 lecture

    The University Registrar has apologised for a lecture in which derogatory comments were targeted at Chinese students.
    By Khanh Tran and Vanshika SinghguptaMarch 6, 2022 News 2 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    The University Registrar has issued an apology to MATH1021 students after a handful of attendees posted racist comments against Chinese students via chat in a Zoom lecture.

    Lecture attendees sought to harass students by attempting to associate Chinese citizenship with the pandemic, a racist narrative that has been criticised globally since the start of 2020.

    Several Zoom accounts sent messages such as “China gov make [sic] this Cov-19” and “Wuhan-covid”. Some accounts are confirmed to have been made under false identities. 

    In an email distributed to all MATH1021 students, Associate Professor and University Registrar Peter McCallum apologised to the student community. 

    “I would like to apologise to all students, and particularly students who may have felt the target of these comments, that the university’s IT infrastructure was used in this way.” McCallum said. 

    Following preliminary investigations, the University of Sydney has found that some accounts deliberately used misleading and false names in order to escape identification. 

    “The settings on the [Zoom] link were well set up by the coordinator, Professor Myerscough, and we have already identified that some false identities were used,” McCallum said.   

    In response to the incident, SRC President Lauren Lancaster met with Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Life) Susanna Scarparo, the University Registrar to file a joint motion with Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) to launch an investigation. 

    She issued a statement in her President’s report, reaffirming the SRC’s commitment to anti-racism and emphasised a zero tolerance policy towards cyberbullying and trolling.

    “I want to reiterate that the SRC is committed to anti-racist organising across campus and racist cyberbullying/trolling is entirely unacceptable,” Lancaster said.

    “We cannot commit to radical political organising without recognising that casual and targeted racism exists and continues to alienate members of the student body.”

    This follows two years in which civil organisations have raised alarms over increasing racism towards Chinese and Asian communities in the wake of COVID-19 and heightened tensions between the Australian and Chinese governments. 

    COVID-19 MATH1021 racism

    Keep Reading

    “USyd you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”: Post-SGM Palestine Rally

    Where is the outrage?: National protest against gender-based violence

    HackWatch: Who Wants to be a Board Director?

    UniMelb Palestine solidarity encampment attempted relaunch met with repression

    Music festival strip searches class action begins

    ‘No confidence in the University’s handling of racism’: UniMelb inaugural annual report into racism released

    Just In

    “USyd you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”: Post-SGM Palestine Rally

    May 14, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    Week 11 Editorial

    May 13, 2025

    Losing My Religion: Elegies from an Atheist who desperately wants to believe in God

    May 13, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025

    NSW universities in the red as plague of cuts hit students & staff

    April 30, 2025

    Your Compliance Will Not Save You

    April 16, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.