The University of Auckland is denying reports it silenced staff who'd been sent threatening emails by a student with far-right views.
One anonymous staff member told RNZ less than a week after the Christchurch terror attack in March, that the student sent messages and interrupted a class he was teaching to spout racist views.
He'd asked the class to watch a video about dawn raids, when the student allegedly "had this really emotional outburst" and started ranting about Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi.
"Other students were just kind of looking at each other and just like shaking and looking... tearful and really emotional in response to what he was doing. They were quite visibly shaken up."
Other staff members have also reported receiving "really misogynistic" and "super transphobic" emails from the student, who has since left the university.
But when they took their concerns to senior management, the staff member told RNZ they were told to stay silent.
A union organiser told RNZ it's a "widespread problem", with numerous complaints about students spouting problematic views in recent years being swept under the rug.
The university said in a statement staff had been asked to "respect the confidentiality of the investigation process" - as is standard practice - and should take concerns they have about the process to the vice-chancellor, not the media.
"Staff and students associated with the student's courses were kept informed of progress along the way... Factors beyond our control drew things out, including illness of the student."
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Vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon in April rubbished reports of a growing white supremacist problem at the university, calling them "utter nonsense".
"We are currently dealing with two separate issues confined to one faculty and involving a small group of students, that is being conflated by social media and a naturally enhanced sensitivity following the Christchurch mosque attacks," he said at the time.
"There is absolutely no evidence of an increasing problem and where concerns are raised we act quickly to ensure student and staff safety."
The university also said a complaint laid in April was the first one ever laid over white supremacism, at odds with the staff member's claims reported by RNZ.
Newshub.
