Living Black at University Conference: Engaging with Equity

Led by Unite Students in partnership with CUBO (College and University Business Officers), the Living Black at University Commission is hosting its second conference in Canterbury on Tuesday 8^th October. Here’s what you need to know.

From publishing the original Living Black at University report to setting up a sector-wide commission to take forward the report’s recommendations, Unite Students is committed to providing an inclusive home in which students from all backgrounds can thrive.

More than 100 delegates battled the snow to attend last year’s Living Black at University Conference in Newcastle and learn how they could create a more inclusive living environment for Black students.

But there’s work still to be done. So the Commission is hosting its second conference, ‘Engaging with Equity’, at the University of Kent on Tuesday 8^th October.

This year’s conference aims to support continued trust-building with Black students, with a focus on developing more equitable practices in accommodation through cultural competency, inclusive leadership, strategic development and creating more opportunities to cultivate honest communication.

Carol Thomas, Chair of the Commission and Accommodation Services Manager at University of the Arts London, said: “We’re delighted to be holding the second Living Black at University conference at the University of Kent this year. The theme of Engaging with Equity will enable us to build on learning from last year’s conference, and come together to share the best practice that is emerging as a result of the report recommendations. It’s an invaluable opportunity to support each other to build trust with, and consistently drive better outcomes for, Black students.”

Living Black at University Conference: Engaging with Equity

Conference delegates will have access to:

• Practical university case studies on actions taken as a result of Living Black at University and the Commission
• Workshops on inclusive leadership, cultural competency in services, EDI data maturity and strategic development of DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging)
• A Black student panel, hosted by Student Minds

There are only 100 spaces available – so, to make sure as many organisations can engage with this work as possible, organisations are initially limited to three places each. But don’t worry! If you can’t make it, we’ll be sharing a write-up and resources after the event.

A full agenda will be shared soon on CUBO’s website, where you can book your places.

Living Black at University: The story so far

In February 2022, Unite Students published Living Black at University – a research report looking at the experience of Black students in UK student accommodation. The report found evidence of racism, cultural insensitivity and exclusion in university and privately run student accommodation.

Two months later, we launched the Living Black at University Commission, working collaboratively with the Higher Education sector to take action on the report’s 10 recommendations. In its first phase, the Commission took action by:

• Piloting a Black services directoryto direct students to culturally relevant services in 23 university towns and cities
• Publishing three toolkit resourcesfor the Higher Education sector
• Holding the inaugural Living Black at University Conference in Newcastle, and
• Writing to the Professor Edward Peck, the government’s Higher Education Student Support Champion, to highlight the need for cultural competence within student support services

The actions and learnings from the first phase were shared in a new Commission report in November 2023, available to download here.

In April, we announced that the Commission’s second phase would be jointly led by Unite Students and CUBO, with CUBO’s EDI Lead Carol Thomas taking over as Chair of the Commission. This new partnership will take further national action to support equity, inclusion and belonging in student accommodation and wider campus services across the UK.

Outputs will include further guidance and toolkits, a survey of campus services staff and support for greater cultural competence and more inclusive hiring and career development practices within the sector.

Embedding Living Black at University at Unite Students

In addition to its work on the Commission, Unite Students is committed to embedding the recommendations in our own buildings – making them a home where all residents feel they belong.

To date, this has included:

• The creation of the Black services directory across the 23 cities that Unite Students operates in
• Creating a Community Living Agreement, which sets out our expectations of inclusive behaviour from our residents
• Embedding the report into our student support approach – meaning our team can better triage and manage incidents linked to racism, and identify and respond when racism may be a factor in complex case management
• Improving the diversity of recruitment to our Resident Ambassador programme, and putting inclusion at the heart of our Resident Ambassador training
• Running workshops for university partners to share the Living Black at University findings and think about how to implement the recommendations

We can’t wait to hear more ideas and initiatives at the conference this autumn.

Find out what we covered at last year’s conference.