Content Advice: This article includes news of current racist incidents which took place on campus and the wider city of Glasgow, and may be distressing to read for those of you who may have experienced racism. Please visit our Support and Resources section for internal and external resources.

In the coming weeks, we will launch a new university-wide anti-racism campaign on microaggressions and overt racism. Our campaign has been developed in partnership with students and staff and is based on the real and lived experiences of members of our community. For a University which prides itself on being an inclusive community, these experiences are totally unacceptable.

The campaign is part of a wider action plan to drive for collective action across the University. At its core, is a commitment to build trust in our reporting systems so that our community feels confident when raising issues of racism and racial injustice. The campaign will also be linked to a new website which will highlight reporting tools, educational resources, how we are addressing structural inequalities at UofG and how you can be a good ally. We must all stand together against racism at UofG.

Only very recently, we saw dreadful and completely unacceptable hate crime incidents against our Chinese community in Glasgow. We share your extreme concern and sadness about these incidents of offensive graffiti on sites across the city and on our campus.

Racism has no place at UofG or in Glasgow.

We appreciate that it has caused understandable hurt and distress. The security and wellbeing of our community is always our number one priority. We want to reassure you that we treat all such incidents seriously. We have been in close discussions with the Glasgow Chinese Students and Scholars Association, and our security team is working hard to support our Chinese students with measures to ensure your safety and welfare. The University is also liaising closely with Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council to investigate this racist incident and help ensure action is taken against those responsible.

The strength of UofG is our people. Our community is drawn from countries around the world which makes the University truly global in our outlook. Please know that everyone is welcome here and deserves to feel safe. We all must stand together as #OneTeamUofG against racism of all kinds.

If you or anyone close to you needs help or support, we have a number of resources available.

As part of our support and safety resources, we would like to remind you to download our Safe Zone app which allows you to contact our security colleagues urgently.

We look forward to sharing our anti-racism campaign with you soon. This campaign has been a direct result of work being undertaken on the back of UofG’s Understanding Racism and Transforming University Cultures Report and Action Plan, which underline our commitment to becoming the anti-racist institution we aspire to be. We want to ensure our community feels UofG and our campuses are safe and inclusive spaces for all, and one which fully celebrates diversity.

First published: 6 October 2022

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