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from Palatinate 834
by Palatinate
Profile “There is more work to be done”
Profile speaks to the students behind the anti-racism workshops at St. Cuthbert’s Society
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Thalia Agoglossakis-Foley
Racism in institutions like universities has become even more of a central point of discussion since George Floyd’s death in May. The way that British universities handle racism has been put under the microscope. What has also emerged, however, is influential student-led work against racism.
For freshers’ week this year, anti-racism workshops were carried out for new students at St Cuthbert’s Society for the first time. The workshops covered a wide range of issues, including definitions of racism and race, types of racism, white privilege, intersectionality, Black British history and racism specific to Durham University. They were designed to be both informative and a space for discussion about racism at Durham and in the UK more widely. Three students organised and led the workshops: Hannah Moore (Cuth’s Ethnic Minority Representative), Daniel Vogel, and Sachin Savur (Cuth’s Ethnic Minority Representative and Assistant from 2018-19, respectively).
Moore, Vogel and Savur all identify ignorance about racism as one of the central issues among the Durham student body. As part of their JCR roles in 2018, Vogel and Sachur tried to face this issue by creating a short anti-racism workshop for leaders of societies and sport clubs at Cuth’s. The content of it was very similar to that of the 2020 workshop, although shorter and less interactive.
The need for this workshop was fuelled in part by their personal views of racism in the University. As a member of a sports team, Vogel has found that “sport at elite universities lends itself to this insular echo chamber of ‘edgy’ banter.” He credits this damaging culture to “not ever being challenged or being exposed to the concept that these could be harmful.” Savur recalls being at a silent disco in freshers’ week and watching white students sing the N-word when the song ‘Gold Digger’ was played. He suggests that the informative content of the workshops (both in 2018 and 2020) would mean that “at the very least, they don’t have an excuse”. The workshop aimed to inform students how actions like these can be damaging in creating a safe space for students of colour.
Moore felt it was important to target freshers with the workshop. Her first experience of a “workshop-type” informative session was when she was a fresher in the college’s consent workshop. She found that it was the first time she considered issues like racism and consent to be a university-level issue, explaining how “education expects society and your friends and family to teach these things to you.” However, when students from different backgrounds are all brought to university together, there are clear inconsistencies in levels of awareness on issues such as racism – inconsistencies which the workshop aimed to level out.
On a more personal level, Moore found it was important to express her experience and make others who are willing to learn understand it. This willingness to learn, she suggests, has only become more common since Floyd’s murder and the work of the Black Lives Matter movement, as now “suddenly everyone wants to know what is wrong.” Thus, they designed the freshers’ anti-racism workshop for those who might be ignorant but have a willingness to learn.
A crucial way in which this workshop challenged ideas about racism was with its focus on UKspecific racism. The team found that it was necessary to engage with the energy created by the American Black Lives Matter Movement and apply it to, as Vogel puts it, “one, the academic context, and two, the British context.”
To reinforce the idea that racism is a critical issue both in Britain and Durham specifically, the focus of the workshop was largely on British history and politics, rather than American. The purpose of this was, as Moore expressed, to confront the issue of how English people “tend to ‘other’ racism,” and bring to light how institutionalised it is in this country.
On the basis of this issue, Vogel felt “there was a lot of potential for good discussion.” They wanted the workshop to be more engaging, so that the freshers “feel like they’re learning something and not just being spoken at,” as Savur said. However, it was also important to take a zero-tolerance approach; as Vogel explained, “it was not a space to discuss the existence of racism” and anyone with harmful intentions would not be part of the discussion.
This approach to the workshops seemed to receive a positive response. Moore, Vogel, and Savur all found that the college was particularly supportive of this workshop in providing the space needed to carry it out, as well as the necessary support: both through the JCR, with the help of President Saskia WoottonCane, as well as via the college and its Principal, Professor Elizabeth Archibald.
Outside of Cuth’s, other colleges’ Ethnic Minority Representatives followed Hannah’s initiative and have carried out or made plans for similar antiracism workshops, with the help of the Durham People of Colour Association (DPOCA). The freshers’ response has also been positive – Moore described how some students talked to her afterwards to thank her for doing it or to express how much they felt they had learnt.
This all begs the question of what more needs to be done, a discussion which is difficult to navigate but incredibly important. The way that Durham University (and British universities generally) engages with students of colour is a crucial point for change. With racism in the spotlight, Vogel has noticed that “a lot of universities are scrambling to appear active” in their stance against it. Savur describes how “surreal” it feels, that it “takes the murder of a Black man in America to make the University try to take concrete action against racism”.
It is no surprise that this, Vogel explained, has often led to hurried and inappropriate decisions being made, which only frustrate the student body more. He suggests that the frustration stems from universities acting too quickly and overlooking the student-led anti-racist work which is already being done.
Universities do not “acknowledge that these figures, mechanisms, and institutions exist and have a broad base and connection with students of colour.” They should instead be consulting with these students to create a more comfortable environment, Vogel argued.
Nonetheless, some efforts are being made. While Vogel would like the University to continue to be transparent with students of colour about the ways in which cases of racism are handled, Savur suggested that adequate welfare for these students should also be a primary concern. One idea could be to hire student support officers with the task of creating a more inclusive environment.
Savur’s experience as a student ambassador for Durham University shaped the way in which he sees the welfare of students of colour influencing the decisions of prospective students. As an ambassador, when he asked Black students whether they would apply to Durham, most of them said that the lack of diversity would not make it a comfortable environment in which to study. He suggests that, for this to change, current students need to be supported and the conditions improved, so that prospective students can hear about positive experiences in Durham.
Another way in which the move towards an actively anti-racist university can be established is through engagement with staff. Vogel emphasised the small number of Black lecturers in Durham – only 25 out of of 4,360 lecturers (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2018/19). He explained that a change in policy here would show actual engagement with being anti-racist.
Moore noted that it is also important for current lecturers to be trained; there have been discussions about extending the workshop to staff. As Vogel suggested, it is only reasonable to “expect staff to undergo the same training that freshers do.”
It is equally important for students to stay engaged on an individual level. Savur clarified that he doesn’t “want people to do a 1.5-hour workshop and think that they’re done – there is more work to be done.”
To guide this engagement, the three are involved in Cuth’s new Anti-Racism Society. Savur established this society after finding over lockdown that all the reading lists on racism looked too similar, with the aim of helping students to engage more critically with the literature. It is important, Moore stated, to make clear that initiatives like these are not only for people of colour, but also for white allies. Ultimately, as Hannah expressed, they want to “get to the point where Durham University isn’t a university which has a bad reputation concerning racism.”
(Hannah Moore)
