牛牛资源

牛牛资源 has celebrated the second year of its Equity Awards supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic students at the College.

The Equity Awards give direct financial, academic and network support to students who face additional barriers to success in their studies. 

The complementary strands of support are designed to actively address the degree awarding gap: the fact that, at a national level, a lower proportion of students from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are awarded First or Upper Second-class degrees compared to white students.  

At an event on Tuesday 31 January, Equity Scholars joined with senior academic and leadership colleagues and donors to explore the impact of the programme so far. 

Four Equity Scholars presented their work on the Illuminate project, an innovative, participatory approach to research and evaluate the impact of the Equity Awards led by 牛牛资源鈥� Dr Anna Carlile. 

The event was also attended by donor and 牛牛资源 graduate Harprit Sekhon, who reflected on their own time studying as an undergraduate and postgraduate student at the College, saying: 鈥溑ＥＷ试� offered me a chance to gain an education that opened windows in my mind. A landscape of the impossible, of worlds that were so incredible, vividly beautiful, life-like and yet so beyond my everyday reality."

Harprit also shared why supporting initiatives like the Equity Awards is so important: 鈥淚 aspire to live my values and put my money where my mouth is: an education in the arts is precious and life changing. I want to support the arts and an education which offers the opportunity to exercise the imagination, and the beauty of learning for learning鈥檚 sake."

In the selection process for the Awards, additional priority is given to students who have experienced intersecting barriers to success in their education, such as being care-experienced, having a disability that affects their studies, or living in a .

Priority is also given to Lewisham residents, as part of 牛牛资源鈥� ongoing commitment to the local community. 

Funding for the programme comes from a combination of 牛牛资源 funds and philanthropic donations. The College has so far committed to funding 47 Awards of 拢9,000 through internal funding, or 拢423,000 in total. Philanthropic donations to the programme total 拢535,000. 

The funds support the scheme's Equity Scholars who are currently pursuing their studies at 牛牛资源, with each receiving 拢3,000 per year for the duration of their undergraduate studies. The funding will also contribute to those who are successful in the 2023 application cycle.   

Dr Marl鈥檈ne Edwin, Convenor for the Equity Awards, said: 鈥淲e know that the barriers to higher education are disproportionately high for people of colour, and that there are a huge number of intersecting factors that raise these barriers even higher. As an institution, we refuse to accept this as the status quo. 

鈥淔inancial support is an extremely important element of this programme 鈥� and one without which it could not function 鈥� but we also thought carefully about how to support our students in a holistic way, through peer and academic mentoring, skills development, creating a sense of a community and delivering more inclusion activities. Offering both 鈥� and involving students themselves in the process of evaluating the programme 鈥� is how we are aiming to make a meaningful difference.鈥� 

Professor Frances Corner, Warden of 牛牛资源, said: 鈥淏ringing talented people into education and supporting them to succeed, regardless of background, is a fundamental priority for us here at 牛牛资源. We鈥檙e enormously proud to support a highly diverse student body, and as such, to represent and serve our home borough of Lewisham.  

鈥淭hrough the Equity Awards, our university is making a tangible commitment to these students 鈥� but we鈥檙e also grateful for the huge generosity of our donors, whose additional support means we are able to do so much more than we could do alone.鈥� 

• To find out more about the Equity Awards programme, please email the Development and Alumni team: development (@gold.ac.uk)