Race equality award for York St John University

York St John University has been awarded a Race Equality Charter bronze award for progress to advance race equality in higher education.

The award reflects a University-wide commitment to pursuing real and sustained change and follows a robust and rigorous application process.

The award, conferred by higher education charity AdvanceHE, is based on an independent assessment of the University’s actions to identify and reflect on institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students.

The submission for the award included data, survey results and information from students and staff that informed a Race Equality action plan. You can see the 10 key actions of this plan on the Towards race equality web page.  Achieving the bronze award is just the beginning of the work the University needs to do to address racial inequality. 

Dr Aminu Usman, Dr Brett Heasman and Ebony Moreno, BAME Staff Network co-chairs, said:

 “This is excellent news. This award represents an important commitment to the work ahead, and we look forward to working with the university to see that the Race Equality Charter Action Plan is fully implemented.”

Professor Karen Bryan, Vice Chancellor, thanked those involved in achieving the award:

“Our commitment to race equality forms an integral part of our mission to advance social justice at York St John University. My thanks to our Race Equality Charter Self-Assessment Team whose hard work is helping us to identify and address race inequalities, as recognised by this Race Equality Charter Bronze award. We know that there is still significant work to do, and we will continue to focus our efforts on ensuring an inclusive environment for everyone.”

The Race Equality Charter’s mission is to improve the representation, experience, progression and success of racially minoritised staff and students within higher education. It provides a rigorous and robust framework through which institutions work to critically reflect and act on institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of the progression and success of racially minoritised staff and students.

Ruth Gilligan, Assistant Director Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Advance HE, said, “REC Bronze is recognition of an institution’s robust foundation for eliminating racial inequalities, developing inclusive cultures and moving from commitment to sustainable and integrated bold and ambitious action.

“Advance HE looks forward to supporting York St John University as it progresses its action plans to advance race equality.”

For more information about the Race Equality Charter please visit: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/equality-charters/race-equality-charter