Statement from University Centre Peterborough: Black Lives Matter Statement

The tragic events in America have outraged the global community and are a reminder to us all that we must continue to tackle racial equality, injustice and discrimination wherever and whenever we see it.

We are fully aware that as an education establishment we have the power to enhance lives, engage students and strengthen communities to help bring about positive change within the world, and we take this responsibility incredibly seriously.

Intolerance and racism, in any form is not acceptable and has no place in any education establishment. We are proud to be part of a diverse community of students and staff and strive to place equality at the forefront of everything we do. In the last few weeks, we have undertaken a range of actions to address these issues including specific remote tutorial delivery for our study programme students. We have received positive feedback from students, stating how thought provoking and challenging this has been. However, we know we need to do more.

Education plays a critical role in establishing equality and inclusion and we realise that more can be done to bring about positive change and to create a world with equality and mutual respect.

It takes commitment from everybody to make real, meaningful change. Words are not enough, action is required. We want to know what more we can do; we want to be challenged and so we would encourage students, staff, parents, carers, alumni, and our local community to get in touch. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, please email hello@ucp.ac.uk

Now is the time to be open to discussion and ask ourselves uncomfortable questions, so that we can fight racism in education and all aspects of society.

We are united as a whole educational community in our pursuit to stand up to racism and oppression.

Black lives matter at University Centre Peterborough, and they always will!