Black Lives Matter Isn’t a Fad
Your Sabbatical Officers’ Legacy of Anti-Racism Work
On the 13th of March 2020, Breonna Taylor was shot by police while she slept in the comfort of her own home. Near the end of May, George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight, by the side of a busy road. After George Floyd’s murder – the death of yet another Black person at the hands of police – simmering racial tensions in the US reached critical mass. The resulting Black Lives Matter protests called for an end to police brutality against minorities and advocated to defund the police. Now, three months on from George Floyd’s death – and despite a sharp drop-off in news coverage – activists are still tirelessly campaigning for racial justice.
Here in the UK, thousands of campaigners have marched in support of Black Lives Matter. It is a show of solidarity against the infringement of others’ human rights, but also a gesture of recognition. Review after review has shown that ethnic minorities in the UK face discrimination on an institutional scale – within the police force, in the justice system, in the workplace.
During the Black Lives Matter protests, the University of Salford Students’ Union released a statement of solidarity. It is important to emphasise that this statement carries with it a commitment to action and change – even though the 24-hour news cycle has largely dispensed with its coverage of the protests, issues of racial inequality should not be relegated to the background.
At USSU, we are incredibly privileged to have our Sabbatical Officers, who have spearheaded our work in this area over several years.
Since they were instated, Temi Adebayo (current President) and Ade Oni (current SEE Officer) have been determinedly advocating for BAME students. Both Officers are currently in their second term. As a crucial link between the student body and Union and University staff, their work has always been informed by student feedback. According to Temi, many Black and other minority ethnic students “don’t feel like they belong – it doesn’t really feel like there’s a sense of community. BAME students don’t usually see themselves in the curriculum.”
One example of institutional discrimination against ethnic minority students is the BAME Awards Gap, which refers to the jarring disparity between the proportion of white students who are awarded a First or 2.1, compared to this proportion of ethnic minority students. At Salford University, the gap between white and Black students is 27% - meaning that in 2019, 77% of white students obtained a First or 2.1 as opposed to only 49.5% of Black students. The total disparity between white students and all ethnic minority students is 18%.
Such systemic failures are likely to have real-world consequences. These can, and do, disadvantage young graduates from minority backgrounds as they strike out into the world for the first time. This is why closing the BAME Awards gap is a key priority for both the Students’ Union and the University, and why the two organisations are closely collaborating on a BAME Awards Gap Workstream.
Both Temi and Ade have made significant contributions to this project. In fundamental terms, Temi has advocated for a shift in the language used to characterise the gap, resulting in the Union and University moving away from ‘attainment gap’ (where the focus is placed on the student’s perceived underachievement – the phrase is still used on The National Union of Students’ website) to ‘Awards Gap’, which highlights the systemic failures that cause BAME students, especially Black students, to be disproportionately disadvantaged. Ade has also presented on the BAME Awards gap to University Council, on which he and Temi both sit, outlining the resource investment needed to deliver the BAME Awards Gap Workstream.
In my conversation with both Officers, they emphasised the importance of robust Student Voice mechanisms, as well as co-production between students and the University. This allows for the amplification of student experience as a key driving factor in policy change – after all, students are the experts in their own lived experience. It is also important, however, that students are given the appropriate language and resources, empowering them to understand the – often opaque – structures that tower around them. According to the student feedback Ade has received, most students are unaware on an academic level that the BAME Awards gap exists. However, their educational experience bears out the data. The problem has become so embedded in day-to-day university life that it is no longer a ‘problem’ – it is a state of affairs, the norm.
“It is on all of us, as officers, to help students see things clearly. Students should not accept problems just because this is how things have always been,” Ade said.
Representation matters. In an educational context, positive representation is a predictor of student success – and indeed, according to the student feedback Temi has received, many BAME students don’t feel represented in Salford’s curriculum and community. However, both Officers stress that the University’s response to their suggestions has been extremely heartening so far, and, with the cooperation of the relevant Course Leaders, certain courses in the Business School and SEE have been chosen for a series of reviews and audits. These have been implemented in a pilot effort to decolonise the curriculum – that is, taking steps to challenge longstanding assumptions or omissions underpinning the material that students are taught.
The courses above were selected because the high proportion of BAME students enrolled did not translate to an appreciable decrease in the BAME Awards Gap for degrees awarded in those subjects. In time, Temi and Ade hope to develop relationships with more Course and Module Leaders so that other courses will also be able to benefit from student co-production on this issue – an objective that dovetails perfectly with the University’s call for academic staff to rethink their own procedures, and work towards closing the BAME Awards Gap.
The University, recognising the urgent nature of anti-racism work, has committed to meeting certain targets – such as formally obtaining a Bronze Award from Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter (REC) in 2021. The REC, according to its website, “aims to improve the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education”. Only 14 HE institutions in the UK currently hold a Bronze Award, and with the diligent work of the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, that day is hopefully not far off.
Both Temi and Ade stressed how supportive and proactive they have found the University’s EDI team, which has been very eager to “knock on windows” – advocating for students alongside Union staff. In terms of Officer input, Temi offered her time and emotional energy in order to chair two REC focus groups, jointly run by the University and the USSU in early July.
Overall, both Temi and Ade are extremely encouraged by the response their work has received. As well as the major projects already mentioned, the University has made several anti-racism commitments (outlined in detail in the most recent Vice-Chancellor’s update) which will impact student and staff experience on a day-to-day basis. Through their lobbying at University Council, the Officers were able to hold the Vice-Chancellor’s executive team accountable and play a significant role in shaping the University’s anti-racism work.
Both Temi and Ade would like to stress that the cultural moment that began with George Floyd’s death does not exist in a vacuum – even though issues of racism gathered a groundswell of support earlier this year, the systemic oversights and failures that engender structural discrimination have been quietly ticking away in the background. Nor are Temi and Ade the first USSU Sabbatical Officers to tackle racial inequality. Early on in our conversation, Temi emphasised the integral work done by earlier Officers, who had “pushed open the door”, easing the transition to the current moment.
Temi and Ade are consciously structuring their work around projects that have the potential to create long-term positive outcomes for students.
“If previous officers’ work has opened the door, we hope that our work has opened the gate,” said Ade.
In the future, both Officers hope that the University will further prioritise anti-racism work, allowing for a strong, responsive Student Voice engaging with the University on co-produced projects. To use the Officers’ analogy, they hope to see more doors opening in the future, allowing them to continue advocating effectively for students.
“There’s still so much more work that needs to be done,” said Temi. “And even though we’ve leapt over this hurdle, the journey isn’t over. It definitely has been made slightly easier, though – certain obstacles have been moved out of the way.”
If this article resonated with you, you might wish to contact Temi and Ade for a discussion, or with an idea. Their inboxes are always open to students, so please don’t hesitate to drop them a line.
Temi Adebayo
USSU President
Adedapo Oni
USSU Science, Engineering and Environment Officer
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