Accused of racism, a professor from the IUT of Mantes-la-Jolie has been temporarily suspended

A professor from the IUT of Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines) has been temporarily suspended following accusations of racism, reports France Bleu Paris. This civil engineering professor is accused of having made racist remarks and of having harassed a student since the beginning of the school year.

According to the student union, this teacher regularly targeted a single student. One of the members of the EUY and student at the IUT of Mantes-la-Jolie, Mohamadou Sow, explains that at the “at first it was mockery, racist jokes”. He assures France Bleu Paris that the situation then deteriorated “the day the student was elected delegate of his class”. “The teacher asked the others how they could have elected a ‘dirty Arab’ to represent them”assures Mohamadou Sow.

The Union of Yvelines Students also accuses the professor of also attacking other students of the Muslim faith. She assures that several young people have even preferred to abandon their training rather than continue to suffer the inappropriate behavior of the teacher. On Twitter, the EUY claims that “five students were arrested by their doctors after developing anxiety disorders as a result of these acts”.

The student, who claims to be the victim of harassment by the teacher, complained about this situation to the management of the school. According to the elements collected by France Bleu Paris, the teacher pushed him against a wall in retaliation. This gesture triggered a wave of anger and indignation among other students who organized a blockade of the IUT from February 14 to 17. The presidency of the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, on which the IUT depends, then decided to suspend the professor “for 30 days”specifies the Union of Students of Yvelines on Twitter. “Following the blockade, the presidency decided to open a listening unit for students and to initiate an internal administrative investigation”says the union.

Contacted by France Bleu Paris, the presidency of the university did not respond to requests for interviews. She clarifies that said in a press release that “the suspension of the professor is not an assessment of the case on the merits”. She has “for the purpose of putting an end to a manifest disturbance of public order”, specifies the university, which asked the Ministry of Higher Education. The latter seized the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research.