2021
UCC welcomes HEA Race Equality Survey Report
University College Cork (UCC) welcomes the publication of the HEA Race Equality Report by Dr Marta Kempny and Dr Lucy Michael.
UCC participated in the HEA Intersectionality Working Group which developed the survey used to inform the report. The survey was shared across Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in November 2020. Three thousand, three hundred and twenty-three staff, including staff from UCC, completed the survey.
The publication provides data, for the first time, on race equality in the Irish HEI sector. It highlights the need to acknowledge and address racial inequality and tackle racism and discrimination in a meaningful way.
As Irish universities become increasingly diverse, it is timely and indeed essential that we develop a much greater awareness, understanding and appreciation for race equality and cultural identity within our university settings.
Dr Amanullah De Sondy, Chair of the UCC Race Equality Forum said:
“The Race Equality Forum welcomes this first acknowledgement that racism exists in our universities. We must reflect on this report and work toward a race equality action plan. Beyond the statistics and the written conclusions, let us focus on those who are mentally and physically exhausted and tired of having to deal with racism every day in our universities. Their experiences are valid and we stand in solidarity and strengthen with all of them. Together we can make our universities and wider society more inclusive.”
Dr Avril Hutch, Director of EDI followed:
“We must work together to address the inequalities highlighted in this report. We need to create coalitions of those with lived experience and allies to counter racism and tackle discrimination in all its forms.”
President John O’ Halloran stated:
“Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are core values of UCC. Discrimination, racism and intolerance has no place in our university. While we are proud to have established the first Race Equality Forum in Ireland and lead a number of key initiatives related to the Traveller community, we recognise there is more we need to do. We look forward to implementing the recommendations set out in the report at an institutional and sectoral level. One such initiative is forthcoming Race Equality in HE training programme, which was supported by our colleagues Dr Amanullah De Sondy and Dr Karl Kitching. We are also committed to developing a dedicated Race Equality Action Plan in the coming year”.