1. I was very quickly accepted after my interview with Fintan Walsh. He claimed that his teaching was empowering vulnerable people, which is what sold it me. 

2. TW These are the images he presented in his class regarding Irish discrimination. Now trigger warning, as you can see in the slide. I was the only student of African decent in that year's class. 

3. When I tried to raise a bit of awareness, he accused me wanting to rebel toward the programme. 

4. I filled a complaint and I was told me Student Union that I wasn't the only person calling it "Barfbeck" after such an experience.

5. I filled a Freedom of Information request and found that Fintan had lied about me recording his female colleague who defended minorities like I do. This was of course false. This means Fintan Walsh controls the conversations between staff and student, to a higher level, regarding racial empowerment. Not only that, but in the same message, he requests staff to record me without my consent...

6. When I tried to gain support this female teacher of minority, she got scared of the system and refrained from mentoring me academically. When I asked her in person  about that consensual recording, she made an excuse have a taxi waiting for her outside, and they next day, I received an email telling me never to enter the building again. 

7. I spent months sending the proof of recording consent and asking them to remove this from my file as they could here the teacher say "let me know when it's ready", regarding recording. This is reeeaally important for my morals and future yknow!!? 

9. I spent a total of five hours being interviewed by an independant investigator: two sessions of two hours and a half. 

10. The College ended up reimbursing me my tuitions fees after 10 months of living in London as an international student. I left without a masters and broke, in all sense of terms.

The one thing that has kept me going in my career is that that reimbursement meant they had done wrong. AND when I kept asking for it, yet, they forgot to make me sign any sort of release letter or NDA. Why? Because, like SU told me, this happens all the time and students give up on the fight, but I didn't. This is why I'd like to warn whoever considers studying at Birkbeck College about their abuse of power, especially in the School of Creative Arts which is led by Fintan Walsh himself.

In fact, I wrote a 28 page document to the vice-chancellor at the time, only to be met with a cease and desist order eventually. Fintan Walsh has since be promoted. I was basically successfully portrayed as an angry Black woman, which is the opposite of what I portray, but I had to get out before they could further use it against me; not that I was initially there to learn something!!! I'll be brief in the answers to your questions, but at the same time: fuck Birckeck College, specifically Fintan Walsh.


I was systemically and racially abused by Birkbeck College