An unaffiliated WhatsApp community used by more than 500 prospective Durham University students has removed sub-groups and expelled a member after offensive and discriminatory messages were posted by users.
The community, named ‘Durham Scammer Free 2026’, was created for prospective students and is moderated by prospective Durham students. It includes several sub-groups, including ‘Hinge and Dating’, where one member wrote that Adolf Hitler was “too lenient”.
The comment was reportedly made in response to another message stating, “Hitler liked the english for some reason he let us keep english”. A separate member then suggested that the “too lenient” message should be pinned, and a group administrator subsequently pinned it.
Messages posted across several sub-groups
Other posts were identified in different sections of the same WhatsApp community. In the sub-group ‘sad lonely politics circle…’, a poll included the option ‘All hail epstein’ and was voted on by two members.
In that same sub-group, the member who posted the Hitler comment later wrote, “I agree. And objectively women can’t be priests.” Another member replied, “fair enough man i respe[c]t it”.
Messages in the ‘Discussing politics’ sub-group referred to the ethnic background of members’ names. After one person whose name was being discussed replied “parents born here”, another member responded, “Fly Born in a horse stable ain’t a horse is it”.
The content led to criticism within the community’s ‘Main chat’. One member wrote, “lowk js burn the politics chat” and described it as “a cesspit and a circlejerk simultaneously”.
When another member questioned why the Hitler comment had been pinned, an administrator acknowledged the decision. The admin wrote, “I was too lenient with it. I was going to remove it but someone wanted it pinned” and added, “yeah i know its been discussed in the admin group. I dont delete thi[ngs] when i should.”
The same administrator later explained that the comment had been pinned before the member allegedly insulted someone else, after which the ‘Hinge and Dating’ group was removed.
Sub-groups removed and administrator expelled
At the time of publication, the ‘sad and lonely politics circle…’ and ‘Hinge and Dating’ sub-groups had been removed or renamed. The ‘Discussing Politics’ group and other chats remained accessible.
A second administrator said the comments in the dating group were unacceptable. The admin team said the group had previously been rejected, but was later added by another administrator and retained because moderators did not want to remove groups too quickly. The incident was described as the “final straw”, and the group was deleted.
A spokesperson for the ‘Durham Scammer Free 2026’ Admin Team told Palatinate, “We condemn the offensive and discriminatory material identified in these chats. The decision by a single administrator to pin one of the messages was a serious error of judgement that gave those comments greater prominence.”
The spokesperson said the wider admin team apologised, while the member who posted the message was first given a formal warning and then removed after evidence suggested the behaviour was not isolated. The relevant messages were deleted and a report was submitted to Durham University.
The administrator who pinned the message was also removed from the admin team. Remaining administrators agreed to introduce clearer and stronger arrangements for responding to serious incidents.
University says group is not affiliated with Durham
Durham University stressed that the WhatsApp community has no official connection to the institution. A university spokesperson told Palatinate, “This informal WhatsApp group has nothing whatsoever to do with Durham University.”
The university said it had investigated after being made aware of the comments and had taken action under its published procedures, but would not comment further on an individual case.
It said it supports lawful free speech and respectful behaviour, does not tolerate racism, hate speech or prejudice, and makes behavioural expectations clear to prospective and current students.
The university also urged members of its community to report racism, hate speech or prejudice to the university or, where appropriate, the police, so that incidents can be investigated and appropriate action taken.