Lecturer's Racist Rant Exposed on USyd Rants

Ellie Stephenson reports.

Facebook page USYD Rants 2.0 shared a lecture recording last night showing lecturer Phill Horne launching into a bizarre racist diatribe halfway through a ‘CIVL3805 Project Scope, Time and Cost Management Class’. 

After talking about the logistical issues related to COVID-19, Horne paused and began joking about students eating a series of “wild indigenous animals” including “a tiger, or a hippopotamus, or a rhinoceros, or a cat of any form or sort, or a pangolin, or even a bat”, presumably linking the consumption of wild animals to the outbreak of COVID-19. He went on to link the consumption of these animals to “sexual prowess” and having a “small penis”, insinuating that the “ingestation [sic]” of these animals is a result of sexual insecurities. 

The rant was clearly unrelated to all earlier content and to the subject itself. It is unclear why the lecturer began the obviously inappropriate monologue. 

The University of Sydney SRC released a statement condemning the remarks and calling for USyd to “immediately investigate the incident and reassess Mr Horne’s employment at the University”. The statement argues that “the rant addressed topics and tropes which has been instrumentalised against Asian peoples for centuries, and seemed to discriminatorily target Chinese international students in his class”. 

The rant occurred in a context of concern about the growth of sinophobia on campus, with several racist attacks occurring within the last year. The Pro-Vice Chancellor (Student Life) Susanna Scarparo recently wrote in USyd’s Student News praising the “incredible diversity” of the USyd community and reminding students that “discriminatory behaviour is unacceptable on our campus”.