Black Lives Matter
As an organisation we continue to be moved by recent and past tragic events in the US, which have highlighted racial inequality across the world, and want to let our staff and students to know that we stand against racism in all its forms, respect and celebrate differences, and support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Now is a time for us to commit, as educators, to ensuring students leave us with the knowledge and skills to contribute to a society where every person feels seen, heard and supported. We must lead the way in addressing inequality, racism and biases in modern society and continue this important conversation.
We currently embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion throughout our culture and curriculum; from personalised tutorial programmes, the work our students create and library themes, to our recruitment process, internal policies and staff development.
But we recognise that we must also listen, learn and take further action to ensure equality is achieved for the Black community. We are encouraging lecturers to acknowledge current affairs in lessons and tutorials, to inspire student conversation and work. We will create support groups to ensure each of us understands how racialised privilege operates in society and work together to make improvements at GC.
Support is available to all students and staff through our Student Mentors and Engage Team. If there is any further action you would like to see us take to support the movement, through education or the wider GC culture, please contact your Student Mentor or email engage@gloscol.ac.uk (staff).
We want you to know that we hear you, we support you and we stand with you.
If you’d like to learn more, below are some useful links:
Matthew Burgess, Principal and Chief Executive, and the Executive Committee of Gloucestershire College.