Decolonising the University

As Greenwich Students’ Union (GSU), our goal is to ensure all our members have a great time at Greenwich, feel empowered, and go on to make positive change.   

Diversity and inclusion is a key priority for GSU and is something we always work to ensure the university is providing you with what you need to succeed.  

To date we have worked with the University to improve the curriculum through the BAME Awarding (Attainment) Gap project (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic), involving students in the process of review though consultation groups, and hiring Inclusivity Consultants to ensure your modules are more reflective of the diversity of our students and in wider society. Improving the content we study is one way of ensuring we are exposed to different ways of thinking and are able to take this forward when we move through our careers.   

As part of our work, your GSU Officer team have decided that it is necessary for us to move from diversifying the curriculum into institution wide change. As a team we will be pushing the University to explicitly commit to decolonising the institution to ensure that beyond our teaching we are inclusive in our hiring practices, student support, and much more. We feel that superficial or performative statements are not enough, and so we are working to ensure that Greenwich isn’t just diverse, but actively inclusive too.  

For us decolonisation means acknowledging structural issues that act as barriers to some students achieving their version of success, accessing opportunities, and being able to fully engage with University. We feel it is necessary to work to remove these barriers at Greenwich to ensure every student feels they can achieve what they set out to, and to ensure that once we graduate we can consider how to be more inclusive in our work. 

We will be expecting the University to work on the following areas:   

• We expect the BAME awarding gap to be closed at Greenwich. 

• We expect to see diverse leadership across Greenwich, including development schemes to allow progression across all levels. 

• We expect culturally competent student support which helps students succeed equitably. 

• We expect to see Greenwich leading a diverse knowledge exchange in research, innovation, and industry – platforming a range of scholars from different backgrounds. 

• We expect Greenwich to explore and acknowledge all aspects of its history. 

We welcome you to work with us, share your experience, and make a change.   

Your GSU Officer team 2020/21  

Zoë, Niel, Mayo, and Bilal 

Contact Us 

If you would like to find out more take a look at our Black Lives Matter Statement, and the work GSU and the University have done so far: 

Black History Month Events  

BAME Awarding (Attainment) Gap 

Black Lives Matter Statement