UCL’s response to #BlackLivesMatter

I was horrified at the appalling killing of George Floyd and acknowledge the devastating and distressing impact this continues to have on our Black staff and students. I know this reaction is shared across the UCL community. I also want to accept that the statement we made last week was not specific enough about the impact on Black students and staff. We apologise for the stress and hurt we caused to our Black students and staff. The #BlackLivesMatter campaign is galvanising people across the globe to speak out against racism and intolerance. While we have made some progress, we recognise that we must go further and have a responsibility to listen and to act.

We need to go beyond expressions of solidarity and look at what further practical steps we can take to address racism close to home. Ensuring practical action on structural racism at UCL has been a high priority for me during my time as Provost. We know that more must be done and that we must accept responsibility for more rapid progress, so we will be consulting with Black staff and students via a town hall style meeting on 19 June, in order to listen more, learn, and decide what additional action we should be taking. I will be sharing more details of this learning in the coming weeks and will be seeking full engagement from the UCL community on how we can rise to the challenge we have set ourselves.

With very best wishes,

Professor Michael Arthur
President & Provost

This article was amended on 12 June 2020 to include details of the Town Hall meeting.