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The vice-chancellor at the University of New England has been urged to step down after she was charged with assault after an International Women’s Day event where she allegedly wiped saliva on a schoolgirl’s face while commenting on the colour of her skin.
Brigid Heywood, who has led the university since 2019, has been charged with common assault and behaving in an offensive manner in or near a public place over an incident at a club in Armidale in March.
Heywood was at the club to speak on a panel marking International Women’s Day, and has been accused by the school girl’s family of rubbing her saliva on the girl’s forehead.
“The UNE council are the ones that need to be put on the spot. The public needs to know how the UNE is dragging their heels,” the girl’s father told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“For five months there has been no concern whatsoever for my daughter,” he said.
He said his daughter has become “withdrawn” since the incident.
NSW police said a “girl had allegedly been assaulted at an event at a club in Armidale on Tuesday 8 March, 2022”.
“Following extensive inquiries, officers attached to New England Police District issued a 65-year-old woman a future court attendance notice for common assault and behave in offensive manner (sic) in/near public place/school.”
Calls for Heywood to step down have intensified, with the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall both urging the university to take action.
The NSW NTEU division secretary, Damien Cahill, said the union was “shocked” at the charges.
“It seems the chancellor, James Harris, and the university council, intend to stick their heads in the sand and hope UNE staff and students, and the New England community, lose interest. Such an approach is not in the best interests of the university.”
As vice-chancellor, Heywood answers to the university’s council and chancellor, and is on an annual salary of $676,000.
Both UNE and Heywood have been contacted for comment.
Marshall, whose electorate includes Armidale, where the university is based, called on Heywood to step down until the conclusion of court proceedings.
“The University of New England council, as the employer of the vice-chancellor, has the power and authority to stand the vice-chancellor down and as someone who has always proudly supported and defended the university, I implore the council to move quickly in this direction,” he said.
Heywood is due before the Armidale local court on 26 September.
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