Warwick releases joint statement in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement

The University of Warwick has issued a joint statement from the Race Equality Taskforce and University Executive Board in response to the Black Lives Matter Movement.

The statement offers support for the movement and condemns anti-black racism, both on campus and within wider society.

The statement said: “We fully acknowledge that we are part of a sector and country where racism has proliferated and is embedded within society. We see this in the lack of Black professors, in the Black attainment gap, and […] in the experience of Black students every day, both on our campus and in the classroom”.

The statement also sets out several intended actions for the coming years, as part of the University’s wider goal of institutional change in order to “build a culture of anti-racism and inclusion”.

Some of the notions set out include: embedding training for staff and students based on anti-oppression work, reporting and fully investigating racist incidents, setting targets to close the Black Attainment Gap at Warwick by 2025, funding new student-led initiatives, initiating mandatory talks and workshops on race and equality and funding the development of the “Tackling racial inequality at Warwick University” Staff Development Programme.

We fully acknowledge that we are part of a sector and country where racism has proliferated and is embedded within society. We see this in the lack of Black professors, in the Black attainment gap, and in the experience of Black students every day, both on our campus and in the classroom

– Race Equality Taskforce and University Executive Board

The University has also set up a Race Equality Taskforce. The taskforce is made up of staff, academics and Students’ Union representatives with expertise and involvement within racial equality work.

The taskforce aims to offer guidance on the various new initiatives related to racial equality that the University offers, as well as identifying further issues in order to put out further effective responses.

The group will also actively inform staff and students on how the University engages with matters related to race and racism.

The statement also references commitments made by the University to make submissions to the Race Equality Charter, the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter and the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Inclusive Leaders’ Pledge, in order to benchmark themselves against other institutions across the country and track their progress in tackling racial inequality.