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USYD removes ‘malicious’ legal assessment after student complaint
The University of Sydney Law School has withdrawn an assessment task from circulation after a student claimed it used her name and mocked conservative views.
Lauren Croft
Law students at the University of Sydney will have to redo an assessment task, after the current one sparked controversy and resulted in a formal complaint being made by 19-year-old law student Freya Leach.
“Unfortunately for Adam, however, he has not realised that a sporty-looking Mercedes car is approaching rapidly from the right. By a total coincidence, the car is driven by Daniel’s friend, Freya,” the scenario read.
“[Adam] is clipped by Freya’s car one metre from the centre of the road. He falls, smashes his head on the ground and dies instantly. As Freya speeds away from the scene, she hears her phone beep. It is a text message from Daniel, which reads simply ‘Great job ;-) One less illiberal liberal!!!!’”
Following this, the scenario details a sex scene wherein Daniel and Freya have unprotected sex — however, Daniel has a fiancé, and Freya knowingly has HIV.
As reported by Triple J Hack, Ms Leach said the scenario unfairly paints conservatives with negative connotations — and demanded an apology from the university, claiming the law school was “incompetent at best, malicious at worst”.
“Every single character in the question who was right-wing was vilified. My character was portrayed as this murderous person who went and had unprotected sex with someone, gave them HIV and who was then chucked off a building to my death,” she said.
Ms Leach was confident the character was clearly based on her as an executive of the University of Sydney Conservative Club — and reportedly received between 20 and 30 messages from law students who drew the same conclusion.
Law students were told that the existing assessment had been withdrawn via their online portal, according to The Australian.
“We understand that many students have already dedicated a substantial amount of time to the short release assignment, and [we] sympathise with and understand your frustration,” the message to students said.
“However, the university and the law school set a high value on the integrity of assessments, which are crucial to preserving the good standing of our qualifications for graduates, the legal profession and society. Regrettably, we feel that there are no alternatives to withdrawing and replacing the short release assessment that would ensure academic integrity.”
Whilst the university has withdrawn the assessment, it maintains that the character in the scenario reflected “politically ambidextrous” views and behaviours and that the name Freya has been used on past papers and was “in no way” meant to depict a real-life person.
In a statement, the law faculty apologised for any offence or distress caused but maintained that the exam was withdrawn due to an “integrity breach” as opposed to the content of the assessment.
“Although it is always regrettable when an event disrupts an assessment while it is running, we have advised students that the integrity of an assessment has been compromised after it was published in full in the mainstream media and became the subject of extensive discussion and debate on social media, including speculation by legal practitioners about the cases raised by the facts,” the statement said.
“In this context, the university had no option but to withdraw and replace the assessment to safeguard integrity. We have communicated directly with all affected students about these arrangements. The assessment was withdrawn because of the integrity breach, not because of the content.”
Within a letter of complaint to the university, Ms Leach said that the scenario, which asked students to assess the criminal liability of the characters, has already had negative effects on her.
“The problem question uses my name and characterises me as a right-wing person who kills a left-wing person. It then recounts a sex scene in graphic detail and says I am HIV positive … After which point, I am thrown out of a window,” she said.
“Memes have already started to circulate, making fun of my character in the problem question and depicting me as having HIV. This exam has made me feel unsafe to hold a diverse viewpoint at the University of Sydney Law School.”
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
