Student-led group wins DMU’s first inclusion prize

A group led by students to drive conversations around race, social justice and class has been praised as a shining example of just why De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) won a national award.
Their fortnightly reading group has attracted staff and students from all over the university, discussing topics and issues raised by Akala’s Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire.
Founders Florence Lamptey, Anthony (Tomi) Ilesanmi (pictured above), Melody Nich and Assiah Hamed were given the inaugural Politics and Public Policy Student Prize for Social Inclusion.
The award was created in response to DMU winning The Sunday Times University of the Year for Social Inclusion, as a way of acknowledging how students contribute to producing inclusive learning environments.
More than 30 people are members of the group and each session is led by the students who introduce the topics and facilitate the conversation.
Politics student Anthony Ilesanmi said: “We’d always had conversations about the various topics within the book, and setting up the reading group came from that.
“It gets so many people talking about their experiences. We’re only meant to have two hours but it can go on a lot longer because we all get into it. We make it interactive.”
Florence Lamptey, whose work examines reasons why black students don’t achieve their full potential in higher education, said the reading group might be extra-curricular but she looked forward to the group every meeting.
She said: “I’m so into the subject, and the issues around it, I’m excited about it every single meeting. It’s outside of class time but we all enjoy it and it keeps the conversation going.”
Dr Kennetta Hammond Perry, Director of the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, said: “It has been a highlight of my introduction to DMU to see students leading engaging discussions about race, racism and social justice. These students have created a critical platform to raise questions, debate ideas and find common ground”.
“We wanted to recognise the fact that students are why DMU was named University of the Year for Social Inclusion,” said Dr Ben Whitham, lecturer in International Politics.
Dr Marco Checchi, lecturer in Business and Management, said: “The reading group has been the highlight of my academic year! These students created a space for critical reflection and open discussion on race, class and the legacy of the British Empire.
“They engaged all people who attended, including them in a collective process of crafting knowledge through lived experiences and theory. I have learnt a lot from them!”
Related Blogs
-
Dec 11, 2020
Universities are Perpetuating Institutional…
The report recommends that vice-chancellors undergo training to improve racial literacy as part of a sector-wide crackdown, amid calls on..
-
Dec 10, 2020
Tackling structural race inequality…
The events of 2020 have at times made me pause and reflect. Earlier this year, I wrote a piece for..
-
Oct 27, 2020
Five leading UK universities…
Cowrie Scholarship Foundation partners with five leading UK universities to improve access to higher education for disadvantaged Black British students..
-
Mar 16, 2020
Societal engagement as a…
The Societal Engagement Team hosted a thought-provoking conference for Imperial staff looking at the role of societal engagement in equality,..
-
Mar 15, 2020
Advance HE EDI Conference…
Advance HE has taken the decision to postpone the EDI Conference planned for March 17-19 2020 in Edinburgh due to..
-
May 16, 2019
Universities acting to close…
Led by Baroness Valerie Amos, Director of SOAS, and Amatey Doku, Vice President for Higher Education at the NUS, UUK..
-
Apr 25, 2019
De Montfort University –…
Can you tell us about DMU and what your role as Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion entails? People are..
-
Apr 24, 2019
NUS Black students campaign…
NUS Black students campaign has launched a new piece of research into Black student experience in post-compulsory education. We are..
-
Jul 21, 2017
Report looks at latest…
The report covers the decade between academic years 2006-7 and 2015-16, a period that has seen a transition to new..
-
May 16, 2017
HS2 contracts ‘not possible’…
Companies hoping to win contracts with HS2 have this week been warned that it will be impossible to do so..
-
Apr 5, 2017
ECU subscribing institutions win…
The fifth annual Guardian University Awards took place in London on Wednesday 29 March 2017 to recognise outstanding achievement from..
-
Jan 16, 2017
Facing the taboo of…
Over the past two years we have seen a significant increase in work related to gender equality. Over the last..
-
Jan 11, 2017
Diversity in Higher Education
There are 18,500 professors in the UK, only 85 (0.4%) of those are from African and Caribbean background whereas people..