Birkbeck Anti-Racism Statement

Birkbeck was founded in 1823 on the radical vision of promoting equality of access to higher education.

We are proud of the diversity of our student and staff community and are committed to sustaining an inclusive environment, enabling people from all walks of life to reach their fullest potential.

We find racism abhorrent and are committed to developing a racially just University community.

Recent and continuing cases of racial injustice, nationally and internationally, have challenged the Birkbeck Community to further strengthen our commitment to addressing racism and all other intersecting forms of oppression.

We recognise that racism is a lived reality for many Black, Asian and other racialized communities in the UK and across the world, and that current realities for racialized communities, including material disadvantage, are rooted in a long history of violence, appropriation, and disenfranchisement. We are committed to doing what we can to acknowledge and address these lived realities through our work as an educational institution.

We are aware that there is much more to be done to eradicate racism, including structural racism, within Birkbeck and beyond, and are determined to create an inclusive and anti-racist culture to support this agenda.

We are committed to listening, learning and doing more to becoming an anti-racist organisation.

July 2022