Diversity Fortnight Story

Louise Goux-Wirth’s coverage on the Diversity Fortnight 2017:

Through Diversity Fortnight (20th February – 7th March 2017), we aimed to bring to the forefront discussions on each of the protected characteristics covered by the Equality Duty, with a main intersectionality vision to through exploring issues beyond gender.

Professor Sir Christopher Snowden (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion) and Professor Nyovani Madise (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead) provided executive support in advocating the vision and values of Diversity Fortnight, which carried throughout the University core principles of collegiality, quality, internationalisation and sustainability.

The fortnight was launched with a Colloquium Breakfast where we invited executive members, staff networks and student societies to discuss and identify key issues to improve inclusivity.  These were categorised into 8 sections: networks, wellbeing, race and culture, LGBT+, sustainability, inclusion, faith.

We engaged with over 300 individuals throughout Diversity Fortnight through workshops and talks. This included students, staff and members of the community. Over 25 workshops and sessions took place, exploring issues such as race and mental health, transgender awareness, black British identities, widening participation and disability.

We closed off the Fortnight with a Gala evening with a key note adress from Simon Frederick, Director of BBC Black and British and performances from student culture societies.
We are in the process of developing plans for future equality initiatives based on the feedback and discussions of Diversity Fortnight. If you have any questions, queries or suggestions please get in touch: diversity@soton.ac.uk