Students are ‘self policing’ at universities, a coroner has warned after an Oxford pupil killed himself when friends made comments about a sexual encounter.
Alexander Rogers, 20, a materials science student in his third year at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, took his own life after a woman expressed being uncomfortable about their sexual relations.
Mr Rogers’s suicide was likely to have been influenced by the ‘isolation he felt’ when he was shunned by his peers, an inquest concluded this month.
Nicholas Graham, the area coroner for Oxfordshire, wrote to the Department for Education with fears that ‘exclusionary behaviour’ is becoming common at universities.
He has urged ministers to take action, warning that more students could lose their lives if the issue is not taken seriously.
Ms Graham wrote in his report that ‘social ostracism is a recognised practice within student communities’.
He added: ‘Students appear to employ social ostracism as a means of “self-policing” their community, often in response to allegations of serious misconduct. This occurs in the absence of formal processes and without proper investigation or evidence.’
Alexander Rogers, 20, took his own life after a woman expressed being uncomfortable about their sexual encounter and friends shunned him
Alexander Rogers was a Corpus Christi College (pictured) student at Oxford University
Mr Rogers, from Salisbury, died after entering the River Thames from Donnington Bridge in Oxford on January 15.
Emergency services recovered his body from the water and discovered he had suffered a head trauma.
Rogers had been confronted by friends after a sexual encounter with a woman, an inquest at Oxford coroner’s court heard.
The woman had expressed ‘discomfort’ about the encounter, after which Mr Rogers had a conversation with friends to discuss the ‘allegations’.
The friends claimed they believed he had ‘messed up’, that they needed space from him and that they would check in on him a few weeks later, the coroner’s court heard.
Mr Rogers (pictured) jumped into the River Thames at Donnington Bridge and died of serious head injuries
After the inquest, a spokesman for the university said: ‘Oxford University and Corpus Christi College extend our deepest sympathies to Alexander’s family and everyone in our community who has been saddened by his tragic death.
‘The college commissioned an independent review to identify all learning in this case with the aim of minimising the chance of such a tragic loss happening again.
‘A college working group has been set up to take forward all the recommendations, a number of which have already been implemented. The university is also working on recommendations made by the review as part of its ongoing work on student welfare.’