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Last year, more then 4,000 students and staff demonstrated their commitment to supporting each other and upholding the Sussex values of Kindness, Integrity, Inclusion, Collaboration and Courage by signing the University’s community pledge.

A year on, the pledge has been updated in response to the relaxation of Covid rules and the roll out of the UK vaccination programme, that has enabled many parts of day-to-day life to resume.

Whilst many of us can enjoy these freedoms, we still need to ensure that we all continue take responsibility and actions to reduce the risk of transmission amongst our campus community and in the surrounding areas. 

We recently surveyed all of our students to ask their vaccination status and are so grateful that nearly 11,000 responded. Of these students, 87% confirmed they are fully vaccinated. Just one per cent said they had no intention of being vaccinated. This shows how dedicated many of our community are in protecting one another – not just through getting their vaccines, but also for taking the time to let us know.

A key aspect of the pledge that we’re asking staff and students to sign is that as a community we are aware that to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19, we’re expected to:

• wear a mask in all teaching spaces and other busy or enclosed spaces such as public transport, unless exempt from doing so
• wash or sanitise hands regularly, especially before and after moving between rooms and buildings
• take regular Lateral Flow tests every week

Kelly Coate, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education and Students said: “A key element of the pledge is our individual and shared commitment to our Sussex values, when we live by these we can ensure that Sussex continues to be a friendly, caring and inclusive environment for all of us.

“Please do pledge your commitment to our community by signing today. “

Reading and signing the pledge takes just a couple of minutes which you can do by clicking below.

Please take a moment to read the pledge and show your support.

Support the Community Pledge

Once you’ve signed the Community Pledge you can show your support and encourage others to sign, by adding the pledge sentence below to your email signature.

Email signature instructions

“I support the University of Sussex Community Pledge, as I continue to help those around me during the pandemic. Small acts of collaboration, kindness and integrity can make a big difference. www.sussex.ac.uk/community-pledge”

If you are using Outlook on your desktop, to add the statement above to your email signature, simply copy the sentence above. Go into your mail in Outlook, then go to:

1. File/Options/Mail/Signatures
2. If you already have a signature, simply paste the Pledge sentence below your current signature
3. If you don’t have a signature, go to New, give the signature a name i.e. Pledge and paste the sentence.
4. Press OK – and now the signature is saved.

Please note: If you are using the Outlook Web App, copy the pledge sentence above and then follow these update to your signature instructions here.