David Ruebain, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Culture, Equality & Inclusion)

Dear students,

Since my last update at the beginning of February, I have been busy working on a number of key developments that I’d like to share with you:

LGBT+

February was LGBT+ Awareness Month and we flew the LGBT+ flag over Sussex House throughout the month. It’s a small but important action showing our commitment to equality and as part of our journey to an Inclusive Sussex. As an institution we are continuing to work towards achieving a place on the Stonewall Top 100 employers list - the UK’s leading benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.

Use of language around diversity and inclusion

We discussed the use of the term ‘BAME’ at last month’s Race Equality Charter self-Assessment Team (REC SAT). Some feel that this term can be unhelpful as it groups people together and doesn’t represent the diversity of experiences and the nature of disadvantages between different heritages. As a result we have updated our terminology to reflect this feedback.

Developing our EDI strategy

I have been looking at the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy to explore how we can become more inclusive. The strategy was written in 2018, and while it sets out many of the steps needed to create a diverse and inclusive campus community, we’ve now got the chance to review and enhance it to better reflect how our University and the world is changing. We’re looking for potential gaps we may have currently and then identify where we need to focus our time and resources to make improvements.

Sign up for our antiracism training Union Black and have a chance to win £500!

We’ve had some fantastic feedback about the Santander Union Black course launched in January. People are telling me they find it an interesting, insightful and thought-provoking exploration of Black British history, examining the labels we put on ourselves and others. The programme, which is available until 2 May, can be completed in stages – if you complete the course you could win one of 50 x £500 Santander Development Grants to support your studies.

International Women’s Day

On 8 March, it’s International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022. This year’s theme is ‘Break the Bias’, a chance for us all to look at how we can achieve a truly gender equal world. I’m really looking forward to our IWD event, hearing from women who have made great strides in traditionally male-dominated areas, which has been organised by our EDI team together with Brighton University. 

Other events include:

• Childlessness in Bangladesh - Dr Papreen Nahar in conversation (Online book launch event, 8 March 1pm – 2pm)
• Women’s health: Why do we suffer so much with our hormones? (School of Life Sciences online event, 8 March 1pm – 2pm)
• FemFest (7–13 March) - Brighton’s female, trans and non-binary led arts festival celebrating International Women’s Day

You too can recognise and celebrate women who #BreakTheBias on our interactive padlet board and adding your inspirational women and the reasons why they #BreakTheBias today.

One World Week – funding available for students

One World Week (14-20 March) is a series of events to share cultures, raise awareness of global issues and highlight international opportunities for our diverse Sussex student and staff community – one that is made up of staff and students from over 160 countries. One World Week is a celebration of our diversity and multi-cultural community.

There’s funding/or support available if you’d like to run an activity during the week and you can register your event and apply. In previous years, there have been international games nights, cooking classes, Holi focus and calligraphy lessons.

International Transgender Day of Visibility

Later this month, it is international transgender day of visibility and we’ll be flying the Transgender flag on campus.

With good wishes,

David

David Ruebain
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Culture, Equality & Inclusion)

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