'The report found that Prof Habib’s mistake of vocalising of the word in full, while trying to say that using the word offensively is unacceptable, did not in itself make him a racist.”
The external investigation found that Habib had erred by vocalising the N-word in full, even though he was trying to say that using the word offensively was unacceptable. However, this “did not in itself make him a racist”.
SOAS board chair Marie Staunton said in a statement: “I want to be clear especially on the use of the N-word. The report notes that the director [Habib] spoke the word in full while trying to say that it should not be used within the SOAS community, and that he has since acknowledged that speaking the word in full was a mistake, for which he has apologised.
“I completely support their recommendations and the board’s decisions on how this will be taken forward. I commit to implementing them under their guidance,” he said. The SOAS board of trustees said it met on Tuesday, and it has fully accepted the investigation's recommendations.