Cardiff University has been awarded the Race Equality Charter Bronze Award in recognition of its progress to understand and tackle the issues faced by its Black, Asian and minority ethnic community.
Awarded by Advance HE, the Bronze Award marks the University's commitment to achieving race equality across the institution, developing inclusive cultures and moving from commitment to sustainable and integrated bold and ambitious action.
Following the announcement of the award, the University will start a five-year programme of work designed to break down the barriers that exist for its Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students.
Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damian Walford Davies, who chairs the University's EDI sub-committee said: "Importantly, this Bronze award recognises not a job completed but rather an institution's critical understanding of what further needs to shift, and its commitment to ensure that happens. Over the last 14 months a Self-Assessment Team (SAT) drawn from across the University has worked hard to identify and understand the disparities and challenges around race that exist on our campus.
"Consultations with our staff and student community, along with extensive data analysis gave the SAT a comprehensive picture of the University's challenges – and opportunities – and led to the development of an action plan.
"Alongside the work of the SAT, we've also revised our governance structures to drive forward our ambitions to become anti-racist, and proactively linked the University's new strategy - 'Our Future, Together' - with our Race Equality Charter action plan and our Strategic Equality Plan so as to coordinate and mainstream our anti-racism actions."
This award is a significant achievement and confirms that we are on the right path. We will now implement the measures in our action plan to make Cardiff University a place where all of our staff and students feel valued, safe and supported as part of a sustaining cynefin and where racism of any kind is eliminated.
The Race Equality Charter's mission is to improve the representation, experience, progression and success of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic 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 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Larner, said: "The Bronze Award is great recognition of our work to uncover the issues – and uncomfortable truths – facing our Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and I am grateful to the SAT for their time, energy and expertise in this process."
We are committed to delivering change and are unequivocal in our stance: race equality is integral to our aim of creating a genuinely inclusive and welcoming University, rooted in Wales but looking out to the world, in which all members of our community can thrive.
The University's successful REC application will be published online in the coming weeks. The University's Bronze Award is valid for five years.
