A university tutor is under investigation after he allegedly used the n-word during his classes – claiming it was ‘ok’ because of his background and his wife’s ethnicity.
Monash University teaching associate Gary Lacey has been accused of using the n-word in his ‘From Freud to Friends: Ethnic Identity in Popular Culture’ tutorials at the Clayton campus on Monday.
He explained that the word was used for the ‘purpose of analysis’ in the context of what he was teaching, and he was ‘allowed’ to say it because his wife was Kenyan.
Mr Lacey’s class looked at the ways different ethnic identities have been represented in popular culture and used case studies involving Jews, Italians, African-Americans and Asian-Americans.
But his alleged use of racial slurs during his tutorials left students feeling ‘uncomfortable’, prompting several to report him, reported the Herald Sun.
Monash University teaching associate Gary Lacey (pictured) is being investigated for allegedly using racial slurs in his classes
Meredith Leviston, who attended Mr Lacey’s second class for the day, claimed the teaching associate had already received a complaint from his first class about using slurs but continued using them in his second class regardless.
‘The tutor received a phone call from the unit co-ordinator who hung up after being informed that the tutor was in the middle of teaching,’ she told the publication.
‘After that he said to the whole class ‘that was probably about a student who got offended by my use of the n-word’… he then proceeded to tell us about the incident.’
She said his liberal use of the n-word made students feel ‘very uncomfortable’ as there was ‘too much stigma’ surrounding the word ‘even in an academic context’.
Ms Leviston alleged Mr Lacey purposely used the word knowing it was ‘likely to offend someone’.
She added that it was ‘not necessarily used within the context of the discussion’ when he was teaching.
The unit-coordinator sent an email to students on Monday night, revealing the university was looking into the teaching associate’s conduct.
‘I’m writing to let you know that I’ve been informed of an incident that occurred in a tutorial today, and that it is currently being looked into,’ the email read.
Mr Lacey allegedly uttered the n-word several times in his ‘From Freud to Friends: Ethnic Identity in Popular Culture’ tutorials at the Clayton campus (pictured) on Monday
A Monash University spokesperson confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that complaints about Mr Lacey were being investigated.
‘The University is investigating student complaints from a recent tutorial,’ they said.
‘An alternative tutor has been allocated to the tutorials while the matter is being investigated.’
‘Monash University is committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for everyone and are proud of our richly diverse and culturally inclusive community.’
‘Monash does not tolerate racism of any kind. We encourage our staff and students to report any type of behaviour they believe is inappropriate to our Respectful Communities team or the relevant authorities.’
In a reply to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Lacey said use of the word had occurred during a class discussing the US version of TV show The Office in which the lead character was accused of racism and so the entire office was put through sensitivity training, which he ended up hijacking.
Mr Lacey claimed he also made references to when the word was used by former US President Barack Obama, US comedian Dave Chapelle and a friend of his in class.
‘I did not use a euphemism for the word in question, but the word was not bandied about as a racist slur. It was referred to directly as it was used by Obama, the comedian that I know and Dave Chapelle,’ he said.
‘I was born in Kenya, and I have a black Omogusii wife, a black son, a black daughter and 2 black grandchildren, with another ready to be born any day now. I do not use racist language and do not use the word in question except when referring to it for a specific purpose.’
Mr Lacey said he informed his wife about the ‘incident’ who was surprised that it had caused any offence’.
‘I spoke with a few others from Kenya and one of my Omogusii friends in Melbourne to gauge their feelings and none felt that I had used the word inappropriately,’ he continued.
‘That made me reflect deeply on why this had caused so much offence. I came to the conclusion that I had assumed that the cultural attitudes from my Kenyan, black community would fit this cohort of students. That was clearly an error.’
Mr Lacey said he made ‘several apologies to all the students’ and has ‘agreed not to use the word in the future’.
Mr Lacey has worked at Monash University as a lecturer, tutor and coordinator since March 2000.
