Student’s bare arms ‘dressed’ in prospectus
WHEN student Ella Rose-Dove posed for a photograph to be used in her university’s prospectus, she assumed her pink top and striped shorts made for an entirely appropriate outfit to attract prospective pupils to the institution.
But she was bewildered when she later flicked through the publication and discovered her arms and legs had been covered up using computer software to make the image less revealing.
The French and English student was told by chiefs at the University of Southampton that the change had been made in deference to conservative cultural sensitivities of prospective students from abroad.
International pupils are a lucrative market for universities, particularly as the number of UK applicants has declined following the recent increase in top-up fees. The institutions have an added incentive to recruit pupils from abroad as they pay 50 per cent more in fees than those from the UK.
Miss Rose-Dove, 21, from Maidstone, Kent, was ‘surprised’ to see the image had been altered. She said: ‘I was wearing a sleeveless top and shorts that finished just above the knee.
‘The i mage was changed to cover my shoulders and give me three-quarterlength trousers.
‘I don’t think the clothes I was wearing were particularly revealing and I wasn’t showing any cleavage.
‘I rang to ask why my picture had been changed and was told it was because some cultures do not like to see a lot of flesh.’
Mayor of Southampton Derek Burke said it was an ‘embarrassing blunder’. He added: ‘Students from abroad are in for a shock if they think everyone in the city never shows any flesh. The prospectus gives a false representation of life here.’
A University of Southampton spokesman said: ‘Our colleagues in the international office felt that culturally some students would prefer to see a more conservative dress, including the covering of shoulders and knees.
‘The image in question was altered to ensure that it was fit for purpose in a recruitment brochure.’