The University of Nottingham’s Director of Global and Political Affairs has ‘come under fire’ following his expletive-laden response to criticism on Twitter.
Alex Favier, who is also the lead of the of the UoN’s coronavirus testing operation, was responding to tweets showing a University of Nottingham staff member wearing a hoodie with the words “Testy McTestface” printed on the back.
After a Twitter user challenged Favier’s response that climate change was a more important issue than the coronavirus pandemic, Favier responded by calling the Twitter user – who has now deleted their account – a “d**k”, before encouraging them to “be less of a d**k” later in the same tweet.
The UoN has one of the highest numbers of positive coronavirus cases in the country, according to the University and College Union.
Numbers of positive cases peaked last week, with cases topping 1,500, but they have since decreased to around 1,100 as of last Friday.
Favier was also embroiled in an argument with fellow university staff over the recent volunteer request controversy.
A call for volunteers for student support roles was sent to staff on October 7, which has since seen over 250 staff members sign an open letter.
The initiative penned by university’s staff criticise the UoN’s “inadequate” preparations for a rise in coronavirus cases amongst students, as well as staff redundancies and cancellations of promotions and pay rises.
Favier labelled the letter as “a disgrace”, which in turn prompted criticism from colleagues, with one Twitter user claiming Favier’s language was “quite an offensive way to describe the thoughts of over 250 members of staff who are simply expressing their concern”.
The original tweets were picked up by Do Better Academia, a non-for-profit organisation which addresses wrongdoing by universities and their staff, who criticised how “bullying and toxicity harm UK unis’ [sic] reputations”.
Mr Favier has been approached for comment.
By Callum Parke
Feature image: West Bridgford Wire. (modified)