Adam Habib is to resume his role as director of SOAS University of London after an investigation ruled that his use of the N-word in a meeting with students did not make him a racist.

Professor Habib, who started in the role only in January, stepped aside in March while the independent investigation into his use of the term ¨C which happened when he was explaining that action would be taken against its use in the school ¨C was carried out.

In a statement issued on 5 May, the SOAS board of trustees said that the review was ¡°critical of [Professor Habib¡¯s] response to students at the meeting and in his subsequent tweets¡±.

However, the probe ¡°did not find that Professor Habib¡¯s vocalisation of the word made him a racist¡±, SOAS said.

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Professor Habib will resume his duties as director from 10 May.

A summary of the report¡¯s recommendations, released by SOAS, says that Professor Habib had ¡°compounded the situation¡± after the meeting with students ¡°by acting contrary to the advice of colleagues¡±.

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¡°Despite his stated apologies he has continued to advance arguments/explanations to justify his actions, which is seemingly in conflict with the ¡®unreserved¡¯ apology ultimately offered by Professor Habib,¡± the report says.

¡°Situations where things that were said and later contradicted with the explanation, ¡®That¡¯s not what I meant¡¯¡­could lead to serious misunderstandings.¡±

SOAS said that it had accepted all the recommendations of the investigation, which was led by Judy Clements, a former chief executive of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, and diversity expert Marie Stewart.

These include developing a clear policy on the use of the N-word at SOAS and providing ¡°specific advice¡± to Professor Habib on equality and diversity issues. The recommendations say that Professor Habib¡¯s conduct may ¡°be considered further under the appropriate SOAS policy¡±.

The university will also put in place ¡°a restorative justice approach for the meeting of 11 March and events arising¡± and will continue ¡°to take forward the process of dialogue between the SOAS community of staff and students and SOAS leadership¡±.

Following the 11 March meeting, the SOAS Students¡¯ Union overwhelmingly passed a motion calling for the removal of Professor Habib, formerly vice-chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, as director.

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Marie Staunton, chair of SOAS¡¯ board, said the report had found ¡°that Professor Habib¡¯s mistake of vocalising of the n-word in full, while trying to say that using the word offensively is unacceptable, did not in itself make him a racist¡±.

¡°The different representations from the SOAS community made during the course of the investigation, particularly as to the preferred outcome, reinforced how complex a situation we find ourselves in,¡± she said.

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Ms Staunton said that the board ¡°understood reactions to the events on 11 March also relate to deep and long-standing issues around racialised attainment gaps and anti-black racism¡± at SOAS and that the board was committed ¡°to anti-racism, to tackling hate and anti-blackness, to bringing people together and to listening and learning throughout life¡±.

¡°It is important that we move forward collectively as an institution now in the best interests of everyone in the SOAS community,¡± Ms Staunton said.

In the 11 March meeting, Professor Habib was told by a black student that he could not use the N-word because he was not a black man and did ¡°not face the trauma and the oppression of black bodies, what we go through 24/7 for the last 500 years¡±.

Professor Habib explained that the word was used in his native South Africa, where ¡°when someone uses it, the context matters¡±.

Speaking after the board¡¯s latest statement, Professor Habib said that wanted to ¡°again apologise to all the SOAS community for my conduct, for the offence and hurt, and for the disruption this has caused¡±. He said that he accepted the recommendations of the investigation ¡°unreservedly¡±.

¡°There is a lot to do to rebuild from this. There is action to be taken to address racism and anti-Blackness. I believe we can and should do this together. I understand why some in our community will take a long time to trust me. I promise I will do all I can to re-earn your trust and respect,¡± Professor Habib said.

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chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com