St Mary’s University, Twickenham (SMU), has announced that it has been awarded the Race Equality Charter (REC) Bronze award after a successful application to Advance HE.
The REC is a framework provided by Advance HE through which institutions work to identify and address internal barriers faced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff and students. The framework aims to help improve the representation, progression, and success of BAME people in higher education.
Speaking of the award, St Mary’s Vice-Chancellor Anthony McClaran said: “I am delighted that St Mary’s has been awarded the Race Equality Charter Bronze Award from Advance HE. This award underpins our commitment as a university to fostering equality, diversity, and inclusion in higher education.
“In doing so, we draw on our University values of Excellence, Respect, Inclusiveness and Generosity of Spirit. We pledge to implement our action plan dedicated to addressing and overcoming racial inequality within our institution.”
St Mary’s announced its commitment to addressing racial inequalities through the Race Equality Charter in April 2021, with a self-assessment team (SAT) assembled to lead the REC efforts and carry out a self-assessment of the University, in consultation with St Mary’s Race Equity Network.
Under the guidance and leadership of co-chairs Melina Healy and St Mary’s Provost Prof Symeon Dagkas, the SAT led St Mary’s successful application for the Bronze REC award. The SAT is comprised of staff and students from across St Mary’s, representing a wide range of experiences, skills, and knowledge. The majority of the SAT members come from BAME backgrounds.
SAT Co-chair Melina Healy said: “It has been a great privilege to be Co-chair of the REC, I have to say a huge thank you to the self-assessment team, present and past, whose hard work has led to us achieving our Bronze award. We still have work to do but this is an amazing achievement, and we should all be proud.”
Picture: Melina Healy